Attraction
by Roadway
Summary: The island is abuzz with gossip when Kairi and Riku quite unexpectedly start dating. It was always assumed Kairi and Sora would live happily-ever-after but when it turns out Sora is gay its only natural that Kairi and Riku end up together. Right? AU. Sora/Riku
1. Chapter 1

**Notes**: Switching it up :P

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku (most the rest of these are vague and/or onesided and/or onetime hookups), Riku/Kairi, Sora/Kadaj (:D), Kadaj/Cloud (not really...) I'll add as I randomly throw people together.

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, sexual themes, more stuff I'll probably write later :P

enjoy!

* * *

Ch. 1

* * *

The whole island (or at least the high school) was abuzz with gossip and flat out shock when the might-as-well-be-married-to-Sora Kairi asked Riku out on a date.

"After half a decade of waiting for you to grow some balls and make a move I have decided to take some initiative so what do you say? Date?" The redhead propped her fists on her hips and smirked as Riku floundered for a moment at the abrupt question.

Of course, everyone in the whole school knew what his answer would be. Riku and Sora were infamous in the high school for their shared friendship of Kairi and their manly need to fight over who gets to date her. It wasn't terribly surprising that Kairi had been the one to ask instead of one of the boys who took very little seriously but valued their friendship with Kairi. What was surprising was that Kairi had asked out RIKU.

It was generally assumed that Kairi and Sora were soul mates as the two were completely adorable and Riku had always seemed the odd one out. In fact, Riku almost always seemed like the odd one out. This was most likely because he has the complexion of an albino despite the fact that he lives on a (very sunny, very tropical) island. It is almost creepy how the boy fails to tan and fails to even burn in the sun. Scratch that. It is VERY creepy. Rumors of a vampire nature had circulated throughout his childhood among other (less popular) rumors of alien lineage.

Riku never got too much scorn for it though. He was, after all, extremely attractive and a nice-enough person to be around. Anyone Sora found worthy to be one of his closest friends was certainly a person one wouldn't want to mess with and Riku was Sora's oldest and dearest friend. It was pretty well understood that though they teased, neither of the boys would make a move on Kairi as this might upset the foundation of their long-lasting trio. For the most part is was assumed that Kairi and Sora were already dating.

So it was eyebrow-raising to say the least when the Kairi and Riku starting going steady.

On their first date, they decided they wouldn't tell Sora just yet. It seemed logical to see if things would work out first. Riku and Kairi had been friends since childhood so they knew that they get along well. They didn't hang out often without Sora and they had certainly never done anything like kissing or hand-holding with each other before. All that was new territory.

They went to the movies (it was fun. There was an awkward bit when they weren't sure if they should hold hands and another weird moment when they dodged being seen by Tidus) and after the date they kissed (Which was…odd but apparently satisfactory as they decided they should continue this and break the news to Sora tomorrow.)

"You sure this is going to be okay?" Riku asked worried that he would hurt Sora's feelings with the news.

"I have a feeling he'll be perfectly fine." Kairi replied. They were walking hand-in-hand on their way to Kairi's place to drop her off for the night.

"But…why me? I mean everyone thought you liked Sora."

Kairi scrunched her nose, "Not really, he's like my brother."

"But I'm not?"

"You're…" Kairi shrugged, "You're, Ya'know, attractive."

"Sora's attractive."

Kairi blinked up at the tall boy, "What?"

"I mean, not to me, but he is generally thought of as attractive."

"Good." Kairi decided smiling, "With me out of the picture maybe he can find his own little special someone."

They walked in silence for a bit.

"You know, I never thought about it before but maybe Sora hasn't dated other people because of the possibility that I would get together with him...or he thought it would hurt my feelings if he found someone else. Maybe now he can explore a little. I think it would be good for him."

"You don't think he'll be heartbroken."

Kairi smiled a little secretly, "Honestly I don't think he liked me that much." She shrugged, "I'm sure we have nothing to worry about."

* * *

They did, in fact, have nothing to worry about. Sora was all smiles and squeals when they told him the news and gave them both congratulatory hugs. Riku tried to find signs that the brunet was being deceitful and hiding how he really felt but Sora seemed as honest as could be.

"I will miss fighting over her though." He joked playfully and that was the only hint Riku got.

Sora was, of course, more upset than he was letting on. He had assumed things would end up this way but was a little disappointed. Perhaps not for the reasons one would expect.

A couple of weeks into the relationship things were progressing nicely. Slowly but nicely. Very slowly in fact. Kairi was getting a little irritated that Riku was taking things so slow with her. They had participated in a little tongue-play after Kairi's urging but failed to make it anywhere past that. There seemed to be something in the way. A big bad block of GUILT.

Kairi wasn't concerned. She knew Sora really was okay with their relationship but Riku seemed to have trouble accepting this.

"I can't shake the feeling that I did him wrong. Like, I feel like I stole you from him and he's pretending not to be upset by it. You know how Sora can be. He hides his feeling when he thinks they'll get in the way of other's happiness." Riku fiddled with the white carpet of Kairi's overly pink bedroom.

"Yeah," Kairi snorted, "but not very well."

It's true; Sora had always been a bad liar.

Kairi punched Riku in the arm when he started to look like he was thinking too hard.

"Look, why don't you two hang out. Just the two of you. Being boys. That may help you understand that he really is okay with this."

"…Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." He smiled, "Yeah! Okay. Thanks Kai."

And with a chaste kiss on the Kairi's cheek, he was gone.

"I didn't mean now." Kairi grumbled.

* * *

It was a little past sundown when Riku got a hold of Sora.

"Hey." He said hanging on the window ledge of Sora's bedroom, as he didn't want to wake Sora's mom up.

Sora smiled, "What's up Riku?" He asked inching his constantly-open-window up a little higher so Riku could climb into the room if he wanted. He apparently had no interest in this because he continued to hang there.

"Wanna hang out?"

"Now?" Sora glanced around as if he would find his mom in the doorway.

Riku smiled, "Of course now." He stuck his tongue out and dropped from the window landing deftly on his feet. Sora grinned and hopped out after him.

"Race ya." Riku said immediately taking off like a dart. He didn't even have to explain where they were going. Sora knew and kept up with him stride for stride all the way to the paopu tree.

They collapsed against the trunk enjoying how the cool night air burned their gasping lungs. Even after they caught their breath, they sat in silence.

The ocean, the wind, the sand, the slight creek of the tree.

"Sora?"

"Hmmm?"

But Riku didn't know what to say so he fell back into the silence and occupied his mind with the island noises.

It was Sora who continued the conversation, "Kairi says you two are having trouble."

Riku felt his face warm. It was embarrassing to know Kairi talked to him about things like that. "Yeah…I guess we are."

Sora sighed, "Look, I'm really not upset about the situation. I so glad Kairi has found someone to be with and I'm glad you two are happy together. There's just…this one…I mean…I really didn't want to tell you this way…under these circumstances." He shook his head as if trying to undo the mumbo-jumbo that had just escaped his lips, "I'm over-thinking it."

"What? Sora over-thinking? Thinking is a task for you, Bud. Over thinking! Now that's just impossible."

Sora shoved his friend playfully and Riku shoved back. It went like that until the fell to the ground wrestling. Riku pinned Sora down but Sora paused there and made no move to try to overtake the older boy. This put Riku in an awkward situation where he was crouched over the other boy trying to figure out if he should move or not. Sora was looking rather thoughtful, which made Riku even more uncomfortable. He made to roll off but Sora spoke and Riku froze.

"I'm gay Riku."

He suddenly became a hundred times more aware of his current position over the smaller boy. His hands were around Sora's wrists in a light grip and his knees were on either side of the other boy's slender hips. He rolled off and lay down next to his best friend in the cold sand.

Another moment of silence passed before Riku found he could voice something.

"How…do you know?" This felt like an incredibly lame question but it was the only one Riku managed to voice out of the hundreds banging around in his head.

Riku hadn't realized how tense Sora had been until he said those words and felt Sora relax beside him. Sora chuckled. The sound was light against the wind, "Same way you know you're straight I'd think."

Riku smiled a little, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

More silence. The previous sounds of natures were now joined with the breath of his friend beside him. Still a little quick from the tussle earlier.

"How long have you known?"

Sora tucked his hands behind his head then attempted a shrug which turned out awkward but readable, "Well…I always kinda preferred boys whether I realized it or not but…I guess I really knew last year."

"Kairi knows?"

"Yeah."

"I feel like an awful friend."

Sora punched him in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Being stupid."

Riku rolled his eyes and rubbed his arm but inwardly he was smiling because he knew he was forgiven for not knowing about his best friend's secret life for a whole year.

"So anyway," Sora said, "There was never a chance for me and Kairi. You don't have to worry about that."

Sora rolled over so he was on his stomach and propped himself up on his forearms so he could look over and see Riku's face (so pale it was practically glowing in the moonlight.) "So, stop worrying and show her how special she is. I may not be interested in her but if you fail to make her happy, I may have to intervene. She is my best friend after all."

"Okay." Riku answered gazing into the steady blue of the other boy's eyes amazed at how far apart they must have grown for Sora to be able to keep this new lifestyle a secret from him.

* * *

Riku wandered home hands in his pockets thinking over his conversation with Sora. He realized that if he didn't do anything he may drift away from the boy for good. They had both hit pivotal points in their life. Riku with (his first) girlfriend and Sora with his new lifestyle. If they continued handling their friendship as they had in the past (all fun and games; no seriousness) they may become too different to remain friends.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Sora and Riku discuss the new developments of their lives.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku, Riku/Kairi, Kadaj/Sora.

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, sexual themes, more stuff I'll probably write later :P

Enjoy!

* * *

Ch. 2 Friday/Saturday

* * *

Kairi was grinning from ear-to-ear as her boys walked on either side of her. She had just received the news that Riku and Sora had a talk the night before. With that news, Riku now had no reason to continue to avoid her advances.

Their hands were clasped together and the fact that Riku wasn't as tense as he usually was showing affection to her while the other boy was around was a good sign in Kairi's book.

"Riku."

The taller boy blinked as if waking up and took a moment to take in his surroundings "Huh?"

Then again, Kairi thought, rolling her eyes as her boyfriend tensed up again maybe he was just daydreaming.

"Wanna come over tonight?"

Sora took a step away and pointedly focused his gaze on the lockers they were walking past on their way out of the school. He didn't want to intrude on their conversation so made it seem as much as possible that he wasn't there.

"Um…not tonight." Riku squeezed her hand and dropped it. Sora looked over in surprise unable to pretend the conversation next to him wasn't happening anymore. Kairi sighed in resignation. They continued walking in silence.

Kairi's place was the first one on the way home so they dropped her off first as usual. Sora said his goodbyes and gave the couple their space.

Once Sora was out of earshot, Kairi whispered seriously to Riku, "Look, I'll give you some time to sort things out but if you're not willing to take this relationship further soon…" she shrugged, "then I guess we may as well end it."

Riku opened his mouth to reply but Kairi held up her hand, "Don't say anything yet. I'll give you until next weekend."

Riku nodded, pecked a kiss against her cheek and rejoined Sora.

"Hey," the boys fell into step with each other, "wanna hang out today?"

Sora blinked at the taller boy, "You're not busy?"

"No. Why would I be busy?"

"I thought that was why you weren't hanging out with Kairi."

"Oh." He shrugged, "No…it's just…well that's part of what I wanted to talk about. If you wanted to hang out that is."

"Sure."

* * *

Riku was lounging on the floor, his head resting against the bed, fingers ruffling the tan carpet underneath him. Sora was on the bed doing homework.

"Do you have a crush on anyone?"

Sora flustered but before Riku leaned his head back to see him, he regained composure.

"Yes." He answered seriously.

"Really? Who?" Riku turned around and crossed his arms on the edge of the bed to create a place to rest his chin.

"Tidus." Sora answered without pause.

"Oh, um." The look on Riku's face was priceless. Sora couldn't hold the pretense; he immediately broke out into laughter.

"Oh my god Riku!" His books fell to the floor as he curled around his stomach in laughter.

"So you don't have a thing for Tidus…"

"God no. Have you seen the kid? He wears like half pants/half shorts. What _is _that?"

Riku laughed, "You're mean."

"Sorry," Sora collected his books and piled them back into his lap, "Couldn't resist. You were so _serious_."

"Well…you're my best friend. I feel like I should know about what's going on in your life."

"But 'do you have a crush?' What are we? Girls?"

Riku shrugged, "A lot has changed and if we don't talk about stuff like that we'll…drift apart. Before I know it, I won't even know who you are anymore! I mean in four years you could seem like the same Sora to me but secretly be a cross-dressing billionaire with an alpaca farm."

"What?"

"My point is," Riku conceded, "I don't want us to drift apart. You kept a secret from me for a YEAR! That's crazy!"

Sora shrugged a little uncomfortable, "It's not like I was trying to actively hide it from you. I just couldn't figure out how to tell you. Plus I was a little worried that you'd freak out."

Riku sat up on his knees to look the fidgeting boy in the eyes, "Seriously? You didn't think I could handle you being gay? You thought I wouldn't want to be your friend anymore?"

"Well," Sora shrugged again, "Not exactly. It was just…a little scary."

"But you told Kairi."

"Not really. I mean... I think Kairi knew about my sexuality before I did." Sora answered honestly, "She certainly wasn't surprised and she mostly guessed it."

"Well sorry I'm not as intuitive as her."

"I didn't mean that."

"I want us to be able to talk about stuff."

"Me too."

"Good." He repositioned himself more comfortably and smirked, "So who do you _really _have a crush on?"

Sora squirmed realizing avoiding the question would only cause suspicion. His mind pulled a name out and Sora grinned, "Kadaj Nomura."

"Who?"

"He's an actor."

Riku rolled his eyes and bumped the boy's leg with his notebook, "That's cheating."

"But it's true!"

Sora laughed. Riku grumbled.

"So since we're apparently best-girl-friends-forever now," Sora set his homework aside and smirked at Riku, "girlfriend troubles?"

Sora was expecting the other boy to change the subject and so was surprised when Riku let out a long sigh and answered, "I dunno. I thought everything was fine between us but she keeps acting like I'm doing something wrong." Riku ran a hand through his silky locks in agitation.

Sora laughed.

"You are the worst person in the world Sora."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! You're just being such a….such a…GIRL!" This started a new batch of laughter. Riku crossed his arms and waited for the other boy to calm down and catch his breath.

"Okay…okay. I'm sorry. Serious time." He made a serious face but couldn't hold for more for a few seconds before he started laughing again.

"Whatever." Riku said making his way to the door, "I guess we can talk about it when you're not being a jerk."

"No. No wait. Sorry." Sora took a deep breath, wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "I mean it, serious time now. Let's talk." He quirked a smiled but it seemed like he was done teasing the older boy so Riku returned and sat down on the bed next to Sora.

"So Kairi's not happy with you?" Sora prompted. He really was glad Riku was initiating conversation about their personal lives. It was a little odd at first but it was good they were talking about things now.

Riku nodded, "Don't know why exactly but she's treating me like I've done something wrong."

"Well…." and just like that Riku knew Sora was going to take the girl's side, "You don't seem to like her…"

Riku harrumphed, "I like her plenty. She's my best friend."

"But she should be more than that right? She's your _girlfriend_."

Riku shrugged, "What makes you think I don't like her?"

"I dunno. You act all weird around her. She asked you out and instead of hanging out with her you're-" Sora gestured to indicate his bedroom, "here."

Riku plopped down on the bed in frustration so he was lying on his back with his legs hanging off the bed, "What? So now that I have a girlfriend I can't hang out with my best friend?"

Sora flicked him, "You know that's not what I meant."

Riku sighed, "If this is how our friendship is going to be from now on, we need a safe-word."

"A safe-word?"

"Yeah, so we can let the other person know when he's gone too far. It's an instant conversation-ender."

"So what's your safe-word?"

Riku shrugged, "It's gotta be something nonsense. Something we don't say in normal conversation."

"Flibbertigibbet?"

"Gobbledygook."

"Pinkerty."

"Blinketty."

"Xehanort."

Sora snorted, "What?"

Riku grinned, "Xehanort."

"Okay. Xehanort."

* * *

The next day (a Saturday), Riku appeared at Sora's door.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"Trying to avoid Kairi."

"And you wonder what makes people think you don't like her."

Riku shrugged uncomfortably and Sora finally let him inside. They trudged upstairs to Sora's room.

"I just…" Riku said as the door closed behind them, "I don't know what she wants from me."

"Sex."

Riku blanched, "Sora!"

"Well, that _is_ what most couples do."

"But it sounds wrong coming from you."

"Thanks." Sora rolled his eyes.

"Have you talked to her?"

"We talk."

Riku narrowed his eyes at the vague answer, "Well! What am I supposed to do?"

"Riku, I don't see a problem. There is a beautiful girl who likes you, you claim to like her back, and she wants to be with you." Sora made a gesture apparently unable to find words for how crazy Riku was being.

"It's just…weird. I mean I've known her forever. The thought of seeing her naked is just…weird."

"I've seen her naked."

Riku sputtered, "SORA!"

"What? Well, mostly naked. Girl's are really easy going about that stuff around gay guys."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Sora stated in a voice that told Riku he had seen far more of some of his friends than he deemed appropriate. "Then again," He added, "We live on a beach. Kairi's bikini doesn't leave much to the imagination. You two have been to the beach together. Remember that one time you lost a bet and had to wear a Speedo? _That_ leaves little to the imagination as well so you two have practically already been naked together. " Sora remembered it well but tried not to let his mind drift back to those memories.

Riku's notably pale skin had become an odd shade of scarlet.

"Riku." Sora placed a hand on the taller boy's shoulder, "The first time will probably be awkward but you'll get past it."

"_SORA!"_

Sora threw his hands up, "_What? _I'm _helping!" _

Riku tumbled onto Sora's bed and hid his face in pillows. Sora pulled himself up from the floor and placed himself in his computer desk chair. He figured it would be best to wait until Riku collected himself. After all, the other boy hadn't used the safe-word so they were still okay. Sora turned to his computer screen and started browsing. The less pressure on Riku right now the better he figured.

A solid twenty minutes later just as Sora was worrying that his friend had suffocated in the fluffiness, Riku raised his head. Sora abandoned his computer immediately and turned to the other boy to illustrate that his full attention was on the conversation.

"You're not a virgin are you?" He asked narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Sora, expecting this question, popped his lips with a "Nope."

"Is this why you're suddenly so confident and…different?"

The brunet's shoulders arched in a shrug, "I dunno, I mean it _does_ change things."

"Who?" Again, the suspicious aqua slits peered at him.

"No one you know."

"Who?"

Sora drew out a long sigh and seriously considered ending the conversation with their safe word. He was enjoying his new open friendship with Riku thought so he answered a little reluctantly, "Remember that trip I took to Twilight Town last year?"

"Yeeeeah…?"

"I met a guy there and ya'know. End of story."

"Are you dating him?"

Now it was Sora's turn to look awkward, "No…it wasn't like that. Besides…he's um, in love with my brother." He said the last part fast in hopes that Riku wouldn't catch it.

Riku sat up with eyes so huge they looked like they could consume his face. Sora smiled sheepishly, "Long story."

"How could all of this have happened and without you telling me!"

"Oh," Sora looked guilty for a moment, "Well… I wanted to…"

"A _YEAR_ SORA!"

"I know… and I'm sorry. Really I am. I wanted to tell you but it was all really….weird. In the beginning I just didn't think I was ready but then I came to terms with things and wanted to tell you but it just felt like too much time had passed and I was afraid you'd freak out and I just couldn't figure how to say anything and we…ya'know we've never been the kind of friends who talk about stuff like that…..until now I guess."

"We never talked about drama like that because there was no drama. Things have changed now. Obviously."

They both sat in silence for a minute thinking about it when Riku realized, "Oh god, I'm a terrible friend."

Sora threw whatever was in arm's reach (a plush paopu fruit) a Riku, "Don't you dare start blaming yourself. There's no way you could have known!"

"But….I noticed." Riku's eyes clouded over as he remembered, "When you came back you were acting strange. You didn't want to spar with me over Kairi."

"You remember-"

Riku continued ignoring the interruption, "Then you spent a lot of time being thoughtful and in seclusion."

"You noticed…."

"I was so happy to have my friend back when you finally figured things out and were back to normal that I ignored the fact that you still seemed different and forgot about the whole first month of avoidance."

Sora smiled softly. Riku glared.

"What are you smiling about?"

"You're a good friend."

"I didn't _say_ anything about it though."

"But you noticed…"

Riku looked like he was about to argue before he realized he could use this to his advantage, "Have I earned the right to the full story?"

Sora nodded, "Tomorrow."

Riku looked betrayed.

"What? Its dark out, you gotta go home. Mom's probably heading upstairs now to kick you out."

"…Oookay." Riku agreed mostly because he actually _could _hear footsteps coming up the stairs.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Sora's story


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes:** smex in this chappie. You have been warned.

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku, Kairi/Riku, Sora/Kadaj, Sora/Axel, Axel/Roxas

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, sexual themes, this chap has semi non-con

Enjoy!

* * *

Ch. 3 Sunday

* * *

The paopu tree seemed like a perfectly reasonable place to have a conversation of this nature. Riku couldn't help but notice the difference in mood between the paopu tree during the day and the paopu tree at night.

It was currently sunny and warm. A perfect lazy afternoon. Sora launched right into the story without preamble, which Riku was grateful for.

Sora had family in Twilight Town so it was natural that he would go and visit occasionally. It was a pretty routine trip to the city. His mother let him go alone as she didn't generally care to visit her ex-fling and his family. Sora got along well with his half-brother and half-sister and was always excited to see them.

Upon arriving to the city (via train), he searched around for a familiar face. Someone usually came to pick him up even though it was basically walking distance to their apartment from the train station. He spotted the blonde spikes and made his way to his half-family a grin plastered on his face. It had been two years since he'd visited and he sorely missed his siblings. He couldn't wait to see how they had grown.

The girl by his target's side spotted him before he could sneak up, "Sora!"

"Namine!" Sora grinned as eyes fell on him and hugs were dished out. He ruffled his brother's spikes affectionately, "Roxas."

His dad gave him a pat on the back while Roxas glared at him and tried to rearrange his hair. They walked home talking animatedly and trying to catch up on the two years they hadn't seen each other. There wasn't a whole lot to catch up on as they did keep in touch but it was nice to talk in person.

Roxas was a couple of months older than Sora. This makes it pretty clear to anyone who tries to think about it that Sora's dad was cheating. His mother never told him the story but he figured she was a one-time romance for him when he visited the islands. Its water under the bridge now after 16 years (when dad discovered both of his women were pregnant and had to reveal the truth) and Sora was nothing but joyous for his siblings existence.

* * *

It was his third day in Twilight Town when Sora met Axel. The redhead approached him at a party Roxas had invited him along to. He was immediately put-off by the older wild-looking boy. Instead of avoiding him though, he was intrigued. It didn't help that Axel was endlessly interested in him.

Axel was incredibly forward and would startle Sora with abrupt questioning and excuses to hang out together.

It was their forth time hanging out when they kissed or, more accurately, when Sora was kissed. As it was Alex who was doing the kissing.

In the beginning at least.

He was swept off his feet (literally), pinned against a rough concrete wall, and ravaged. It was forceful in a way that was immediately setting off warning-bells for Sora but a part of him tingled with excitement so he hushed the alarms and starting kissing back.

He had kissed Kairi before.

It was nothing like this.

Sora pretty much knew about his sexuality before this point. He had figured it out a little while ago but was still hesitant about the idea. Roxas was the only one he talked about it with. Gossip on the island spread like wildfire so he didn't want to announce anything prematurely. Hooking up with Axel while on vacation (where no one from home would see him) was an opportunity Sora wasn't willing to miss.

When Axel kissed him again the next day, this time with Sora flat on his back on the carpet of Axel's bedroom, he knew once and for all that he was enjoying this too much to be straight.

There was something intriguingly dangerous about Axel. Sora felt like he should have been scared of the other boy but instead there was something about Axel that made it feel like it was okay. Sora wanted to experiment. Axel let him. Sora was comforted by the experience of the older boy and he trusted Axel on some level.

After the second kissing encounter (which, admitted, involved a serious amount of heavy petting) when Axel and Sora found themselves alone together (in Axel room again) Axel took Sora's virginity.

It was awkward at first. Then it was nice. Then it was really nice. Then it was a whole different kind of awkward as a word, which clearly wasn't meant to be said aloud, tumbled from Axel's lips.

"Roxas."

Sora froze but Axel had yet to realize his mistake as the word was followed by the spasms of the redhead's orgasm. Some sticky fluid rolled off the smaller boy's body and fell onto the bed joining the evidence of Sora's own pleasure.

They collapsed onto the quickly chilling bed with the huffs of breaths they couldn't catch.

"You said…"

"Sorry…he's just…"

"…my brother…"

That got Axel's attention. He pushed himself up on his forearms, "Your WHAT?!"

"Roxas is…" breath, "My brother."

"Roxas doesn't have a brother." Axel said brushing him off with a wave of his arm but he still seemed a little nervous.

"Half-brother." Sora corrected.

"Shit." Axel banged his head against his headboard, "shit, shit shitshitshit."

As it turned out, Axel had been pining after Roxas for quite some time. His draw to Sora was the fact that the two boys looked alike. Axel was convinced that Roxas wasn't gay. He was also convinced that Roxas wasn't straight. He was completely sure the boy was solidly asexual. It was with this desperation he had clung to the boy-who-almost-but-not-quite-looked-like-Roxas.

Sora wasn't as upset as he felt he should have been. He had gone into this thing with Axel planning on it being a one-time experimentation thing. It wasn't like he was in love so it was no big deal that Axel was using him as a replacement for the boy he liked. He was more worried about what this would do to his brother.

As coincidence would have it, Roxas chose the next morning to introduce Sora to Axel.

"Hey, there's someone I want you to meet. I was planning on introducing you at the party a couple of days ago but I couldn't find him."

Sora fidgeted wondering if he should tell Roxas the truth. "Is he a good friend?"

Roxas blinked at the odd question then shrugged, "Yeah. We get along well enough."

In the world of Roxas that was a huge compliment which Sora correctly interrupted as 'He's my best friend in the whole wide world.' Sora gulped and decided to wait until he was "introduced" to Axel to say anything. He didn't know how Axel wanted to handle the situation and it wouldn't be fair of him to potentially ruin their friendship behind Axel's back.

They shuffled into a Chinese restaurant where Axel was waiting. The shock of red hair was immediately spotted in the busy restaurant.

"Hey."

Axel looked up at the sound of his friend's voice. His eyes flicked to Sora and his shoulder's fell, "Well, damn."

Now that the brotherhood of Roxas and Sora was confirmed for Axel, he made his resolution, "Okay, sit down Rox. We gotta talk."

Roxas slipped into the booth across from Axel blinking in confusion. Axel's piercing green eyes swept to Sora and the brunet nodded his approval. The exchange didn't go unnoticed by Roxas who narrowed his ice-blue eyes.

"We've already met." Sora confirmed and Roxas's eyes narrowed further.

"We slept together last night." Axel added figuring it would be best to be straight-forward. Roxas had never appreciated beating around the bush.

Roxas abruptly stood up causing the table to skid away from him. The table squished Axel into his seat and bruised his ribs in the process. Roxas made like he was going to leave but Sora blocked his exit from the booth.

"We want to talk about this."

"What's there to talk about? I don't go around fucking your best friend." Roxas was pissed and it was a terrifying sight. The look in his eyes actually made Sora fear for a second that Roxas intended to fly to the island and seduce Riku in revenge of this betrayal. Sora almost backed down fearing for his life but Axel offered support.

"Rox, just calm down a minute-"

Before Axel could finished Roxas shoved his brother aside and stormed out. Sora resettled in his seat defeated while Axel pushed the table from it's cozy place in his lungs.

"Why are you smiling?" Sora asked the other boy suspiciously. Axel looked demented sitting there grinning like he hadn't just enraged his friend.

Axel was practically giddy, "He called me his best friend!"

Sora rolled his eyes, "That's great. Except he may never talk to you again."

Axel's face fell, "He'll be fine. He just has to go punch something for a bit then he'll calm down."

Sora didn't seem sure. Roxas was well known for his irrationality and his temper. Axel snapped his fingers in front of the brunet's face to get his attention, "Hey, just be straight with him. It'll be fine. It was a one-time thing with us. It's important that he understands that."

Sora wondered if the redhead wanted him to reveal that during the act, Axel had called out Roxas' name. He wondered how Roxas would feel about that…

He had his suspicions.

* * *

Sora decided to give the blonde awhile to cool down before returning home to talk. Roxas seemed opposed to the idea but at least let Sora into his room.

"It won't happen again." Was the first thing Sora said.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Roxas punched him in the arm, "Good, because if it does I swear I really will fuck Riku."

Sora believed him and nodded, "Seriously, it was just a one-time thing. I didn't even know you two knew each other." 'Until he called your name out during sex.' Sora decided not to add the last part.

With that, Roxas decided he could forget about it. Sora was surprised his brother hadn't demanded the whole story or an explanation. The rest of the vacation passed without incident (although Roxas was suddenly antisocial with his supposedly forgiven half-brother) and Sora returned home. Roxas hadn't contacted him and Sora still wasn't sure everything was okay but Axel was actually keeping in touch.

* * *

"So…the end." Sora hadn't told Riku the whole thing. He hadn't talked about any of the bits with Roxas and had spared the more intimate details of his encounters with Axel. When Riku didn't respond immediately Sora redirected his attention towards the other boy wondering if he had fallen asleep. Riku's arms were crossed. He was glaring at the sea.

"Riku?"

"That's crazy Sora." Sora shrugged a little off-put by the harshness of the pale boy's words, "You didn't even know him!"

"It's n-"

Riku interrupted Sora's attempt to defend himself, "You knew him what? A week? Not even!"

"Riku….?"

Somewhere in the back of his brain, Riku was aware he was speaking irrationally. He couldn't stop himself. "That's disgusting Sora."

Sora stood up looking like he had been slapped, "Xehanort." he said in a pathetically small voice.

Riku pretended not to hear him. He stood up as well challenging Sora, "You ran off and threw yourself at some guy you don't even know! That doesn't just mean you're gay Sora. I means you're a slut!"

Sora clenched his fists and seriously considered violently hurting his best friend but he could feel tears prickling his eyes and he didn't want to cry in front of this asshole so he took off instead. He ran all the way home without stopping.

Riku stormed off but instead of heading home, he went straight to Kairi's place.

* * *

Kairi was startled when Riku banged into her room, kicked the wall, and threw himself on the floor. Once her shock had worn off she turned to her boyfriend, "Excuse me but it is not okay to barge in here that way. Stand up, back out and try again."

Riku grumbled but obliged realizing that he had been extremely rude. This time he knocked on her bedroom door. She opened it grinning, "Better."

He kissed her. Roughly. He kicked the door closed and pressed her against it while he explored her mouth with his tongue and her body with his hands.

"Riku-"

Riku silence her complaints by taking her mouth with his. Riku undid the zipper on her dress and roughly pulled the cloth down her shoulders.

"You're hurting me!"

Her bra had a clip in the front so he unhooked it and pushed it aside. Her bare breast lay exposed. Riku placed a hand on one.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" He snarled pressing himself closer against her.

"You're scaring me!"

He stepped back and Kairi immediately redid her clothing. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Me? This is what you've been begging for!"

"I wasn't begging and you're not supposed to be so rough!" Kairi was flustered.

Riku appeared like he was going to argue but he tamed himself, "Sorry."

Kairi huffed, "its okay I guess. It's good to know you're attracted to me. I was starting to wonder."

"Yeah." But Riku's mind was elsewhere.

They stood in the middle of Kairi's room awkwardly for a minute then Riku excused himself and left. Kairi wondered, after he was gone, if she had done the right thing in stopping him. It was scary but…she had to admit, she did like it.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Riku attempts to apologize.

I promise, this is Riku/Sora pairing. Won't be much longer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes:** Wow this Chapter is short!

**Thank you so much TheUndertaker-27 and Kanrei for the reviews!**

* * *

Ch. 4 Monday/Tuesday

* * *

"Where's Sora?"

Kairi knew something was wrong when Sora didn't show up in the morning or at the lunch table that afternoon; she _really _knew something was wrong when she saw the assumed-absent-boy walking to class; and she was _absolutely certain_ something was wrong when at the mention of his name Riku cringed.

"Are you guys fighting?"

Riku made an indeterminable sound.

Kairi punched his arm, "What did you do?"

"What? Me? What makes you think it was me?"

"Okay then, what did he do?"

Riku paused. There really was no good reason to be mad at Sora. He had lashed out due to….

To what exactly?

Anger that Sora didn't tell him sooner? Jealousy that Sora had an experience before him? Upset that Sora suddenly seemed older and wiser? Feeling like he had missed out on a big part of Sora's life?

All of those were true. None of them justified what he had said.

"Shit. I have to apologize don't I?"

* * *

Apologizing was a significantly more difficult task than it seemed like it should have been. Sora was good at avoiding him and ignoring him and escaping. After spending the whole day trying to track him down, Riku decided it would be best to give his friend some time to cool down before trying again.

He spent the evening with Kairi doing homework and vaguely remembering when all three of them used to hang out together. Now it seemed they were always in groups of two. They used to hang out together as a trio and play games, watch movies, fight over Kairi. Now all they did was homework.

He looked over at his girlfriend who was typing up a paper for English. Her red hair brushed lightly over her back, barely touching her shoulders. She tucked it behind her ear in a gesture which was more out of habit than necessity. Her blue eyes were much like Sora's except hers were tinted with violet while Sora's were the purest blue imaginable.

She was beautiful but it felt weird to be 'with' her. It was like he had won a battle he had barely considered himself a contestant in. he didn't really know why he had fought Sora over Kairi. It was like as long as they were fighting one of them could never claim her which ensured they would all stay friends forever. Romantic entanglement was always dangerous for friendships.

But then Sora had forfeited so Riku had 'won' and now they rarely hung out together as a trio.

It barely even felt like him and Kairi were 'together.' They went on one date. They kissed occasionally. Always chastely.

Then there was what he had done the other day. They had both silently agreed to pretend it never happened. Riku was disgusted with himself for it. He felt like he had betrayed Sora. He wondered if they could ever be friends again. There was a painful tug in his chest at the thought.

"Did Sora tell you about his trip to Twilight Town?"

Kairi had to think about it to figure out what Riku was talking about, "What? Oh. The last trip to visit his family? A little. Why?"

It didn't seem like she knew but Riku couldn't be sure. He decided to ask a more direct question, "Do you know who Axel is?"

"Ah. So he told you about that."

Riku hummed the affirmative.

"What about it?"

"Huh?"

"I mean…why are you bringing it up?"

"Well…Aren't you curious about this Axel guy?"

Kairi shrugged.

"Really? Not even a little?"

Kairi shrugged again but turned to her computer. Riku thought that was the end of the conversation until he noticed what she was doing. She brought up her facebook, clicked through her friends until she found Roxas and went to his page.

"You're friends with Roxas?"

"Well…yeah. I mean we hung out plenty when he visited. You're not?"

Riku wasn't really the social-butterfly that his two friends were. He didn't think he was close enough with Roxas to consider him a friend but if Kairi did that kind of made him feel like a douche for being inconsiderate. Roxas was his best friend's half-brother after all.

Kairi browsed through Roxas' friends until she found the name she was looking for. She clicked it. There wasn't much on the profile viewable to them (as they weren't 'friends') but there were pictures. Kairi whistled then enlarged a picture so Riku could see.

Axel was a shock of flaming red hair, piercing green eyes, and a wicked grin. Riku's eyebrows shot to his hairline.

"He looks…old."

"Yeah. Like college kid."

He was wearing a black tee-shirt that hung loosely over his bony frame and ripped jeans. Black make up (or tattoos?) accentuated the already stunning eyes.

"He's kind of….scary."

Kairi laughed, "That's kind of Sora's type."

"What?"

"Haven't you noticed?"

"I didn't know Sora had a 'type.'" Riku grumbled.

"Have you _seen_ this actor he's obsessed with? Kadaj whatshisface?"

Riku shook his head slowly and Kairi did a quick Google search. Based on the name, Riku had assumed he was an Indian or otherwise exotic man. Kairi's screen loaded a page full of images and Riku's eyebrows scurried away permanently into his hair. There on the screen was a collection of pictures of a silver-haired, green-eyed, baby-faced man. The image Kairi chose to enlarge was one in which (not unlike most the others) he was clad in tight black leather. He had cat-like eyes peeking out from behind a curtain of bangs and his surprisingly effeminate baby face was contorted into a smirk (sexy or evil- Riku couldn't tell). There was a slick leather rope ('whip' Riku realized) held taut between his hands.

Riku took a shuddering breath when he realized he had stopped breathing. _That_ was Sora's type? That older scary man who exuded sex.

Riku fidgeted uncomfortably at the idea.

"Ya'know he…" Kairi inclined her head towards her boyfriend so she could observe him and the computer at the same time, "He looks like you."

"What?" Riku looked disbelieving though he couldn't help and notice the similarities himself and the images on screen.

So Sora's celebrity "crush" looked remarkably like Riku. Did that mean Sora was attracted to Riku?

For some reason, Riku's interest was peaked.

* * *

Riku failed to catch Sora's attention Tuesday during school as well. Annoyed and not willing to wait any longer for fear that their little fight would become irreparable with time, Riku snuck up to Sora's window that afternoon.

Sora hadn't made it home yet as he had taken a different route home to avoid Riku. The silver-haired teen slipped into the room, sat on the floor and waited.

It was a good hour before Sora showed up and Riku was starting to feel awkward. He was having fears of Sora's mother finding him there, freaking out, and banning from Sora's life forever.

The door opened and Sora stepped in. He tossed his backpack aside, slipped off his shoes and pushed his door closed all before he noticed the figure in his room.

He jumped to the ceiling when he noticed his friend there, "RIKU? WHAT THE HELL!" Sora leaned back against his door hand over his heart.

Riku grinned sheepishly unable to help it, "Surprise?"

"Idiot."

"I'm sorry." Riku spat out before he was forced out of the room by the other boy, "I'm really sorry. I said a terrible thing and I didn't mean it."

"So you sneak into my room and hide here until I show up so you can scare the living crap out of me?" Sora was using his serious voice but Riku had known him long enough to tell there was some humor behind it.

"What can I say? I'm a romantic."

Sora shook his head at his ridiculous friend. "Was throwing pebbles at my window too cliché?"

"Too dangerous more like since you keep your window open. By the time you made it home you'd have a roomful of pebbles."

"That's okay I could just bribe some guy to clean it for me in exchange for sexual deeds." Sora was jibing but humorous. Riku decided to take a risk and joke about it.

"Jeez Sora," Riku rolled his eyes, "I called you a slut not a whore. Big difference."

Sora laughed tossed a shoe at Riku's head and all was forgiven. It felt too easy to Riku but then again Sora knew him pretty well and he probably understood Riku was just misplacing anger.

"Whatever, now get out of my house. I have homework to do."

"Okay." Riku pulled himself up to a sitting position on the window sill, "But promise me we can hang out tomorrow?"

Sora waved him off, "Sure."

Riku grinned and slipped out into the twilight to head home. He hadn't realized how scared he had been that Sora wouldn't forgive him until he felt the relief his conversation with the boy had brought. He knew then more than ever he would do _anything _to preserve his friendship with Sora.

* * *

**End Notes: **If I haven't mentioned this before. I love reviews! Feedback and critiques are great as well as just one-liners. I enjoy to hear from you guys!

**Next Chapter: **Kadaj movie time 3 and relationship troubles... (dun, dun, dun)

-rd


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes: **The draft for this story is almost done! Yay! Expect around 15ish chapters. There are footnotes to this chapter so if you see a (* #) that means it will be talked about in the **end notes**.

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku, Kairi/Riku, Sora/Kadaj, Sora/Axel, Axel/Roxas, Kadaj/Cloud

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, sexual themes

Enjoy!

* * *

Ch. 5 Wednesday/Thursday

* * *

"Let's watch a movie."

"I never get my homework done when you're around. You know that?"

Riku grinned at the younger boy pretending to pout over his homework. Riku flipped himself around and slid down the bed so he was laying with his back curved over the side of the bed; feet on the bed, head on the floor viewing the world of Sora's room upside down. "Come ooooooooon. I'm bored."

"Shouldn't you be doing homework?"

"Boring."

Sora chuckled, "Okay fine, what do you want to watch?"

Riku resettled himself so he was sitting upright, "I dunno. Something I haven't seen before."

Sora wheeled his chair to his DVD shelf and started flipping through. Riku feared for a moment that the brunet wouldn't pick the right one so he added, "Why not something with that actor crush of yours?"

Sora sent him a suspicious look, "Kadaj? Why?"

"Just curious." Riku shrugged. Sora hesitated. "Is there a problem?"

"I dunno…I mean I guess we could."

"What? Is it embarrassing?"

"No!" Sora's blush betrayed his words, "I just don't know which one to pick!" He had two shelves full of movies with Kadaj in them.

"Pick your favorite."

Reluctantly Sora slowly pulled one off the shelf. It was a well-used disc. The corners of the case were scuffed and it had been opened and closed so many times the latches barely worked anymore. Sora popped the DVD into his computer. He was working slowly as if he wished someone or something would interrupt them. His mom, the phone, Kairi, a sudden tornado that took out the power, ANYTHING! Sora sighed resigning himself to his fate. It was just a little…odd having Riku see this. Sora was aware of the similarity between Kadaj and his friend and he didn't want Riku getting ideas.

He turned the computer monitor towards the bed while the title screen pulled up. They piled pillows and beanbags on the floor using Sora's bed as a back rest and sat on the floor.

Riku recognize the actor as soon as he was on screen and couldn't help thinking about how similar they looked. In the movie, Kadaj played an antihero called Harlan. The main character and hero of the story was a spiky blonde called Cloud. The story started in a cityscape where the main characters resided, some evil descended upon them and while Cloud fought to defend his home, Harlan joined the darkness. (*1)

"That's stupid. He has no motivation to join the bad guys!"

"Just shut up Riku. It's explained later if you _pay attention_."

Cloud fights through the darkness. More of the mystery being revealed as he fights his way up the ladder of villains. Finally he finds Harlan (now clad in tight black leather and equipped with whip) but before Riku can enjoy the well-deserved beating Cloud is about to dish out on his ex-best friend, the movie flashbacks to tell Harlan's side of everything that had happened.

Riku glanced at Sora who was watching intently, blushing when Kadaj smiled and drooling when Kadaj was seductive.

Though Harlan's side of the story you learn that he had heard a prophecy before the darkness descended. The prophecy told of the coming evil and the warrior who would emerge to fight them off. Harlan knew deep down in his gut that Cloud was that warrior so when the prophecy also told of his demise, Harlan decided on his course of action. He fought, lied, convinced, and seduced his way to the top of the evil organization to prevent Cloud's doom.

Sora was crying. Riku tried not to laugh at him. He still thought the whole thing was kind of stupid. Granted, it was touching. The lengths Harlan went to in an attempt to save his best friend. Riku couldn't help silently cheering when Harlan's sacrifice was successful. Cloud didn't die and despite how much he didn't want Sora to know he was enjoying the movie, he almost shouted in rage when Harlan decided he had been in the darkness too long and he could never return to the old way of life with his best friend. He left to repent for his sins.

"But he saved Cloud's life! How is that not enough to repent!"

Sora grinned at Riku's outburst.

"You liked it?"

"It was okay I guess…" Riku mumbled embarrassed by how much he had gotten wrapped up in the story. Sora just grinned at him and Riku could help but smile back. That boy's smile was infectious. The credits rolled and Sora waited humming along with the ending theme while Riku mulled the story over in his head.

"So," Riku said after awhile, "You think they were more than friends?"

Sora blinked at the question, a light blush tinting his nose, "Well, that's what some people say but I don't know. I think there can be friends who are that dedicated to each other without being in love." He shrugged, "Up to interpretation I suppose."

Sora moved his monitor back and busied himself with putting the disc away hoping Riku wouldn't ask the obvious. Hoping Riku hadn't _noticed_ the clear similarities.

It was a coincidence anyway that his celebrity crush looked like Riku. Sora shook his head with a light smirk at himself knowing that wasn't completely true. Luckily, Riku had the sense not to say anything (yet) and after chatting for a couple of minutes, the older boy headed home.

* * *

The next day Sora didn't see Riku at all and he saw very little of Kairi. They had a short-notice invitation to Selphie's costume party. The trio had already been invited awhile ago but the original date wasn't for another month. Plans changed when it was discovered Selphie was going to be out of town for her birthday. She quickly moved the date of the party up and informed everyone. Thus, everyone was scrambling to get a costume in time and make sure they were prepared for Friday.

It was a movie-themed party and Sora already had his Indian Jones costume so he was able to spend the day in peace while everyone else scrambled around.

* * *

"Come on, it's perfect."

Kairi crossed her arms, "I wanted to do a couple's costume."

Riku sighed, "But I've already bought mine!" He shook the bag in his hand to illustrate, "and it's perfect."

Kairi glared at Riku for making this decision without her. Riku wasn't all too happy that he had run into her while exiting the shop. He felt she had no right to be mad at him for something so stupid. A couple's costume? Really?

He was annoyed that she was there. He just wanted to get home and try on his costume.

But they were dating, Riku conceded, "You can try and match me if you want?"

Kairi sighed, "I guess I have no choice." Riku lead them back to the store where he bought his costume so Kairi could find hers as well. Riku was almost giddy with excitement for the party. He couldn't wait! Was it weird that he hadn't even given Kairi a second thought when he went in search of his costume?

"Hey," Kairi broke him out of his thoughts. She was riffling through costumes. The hangers made a screeching sound against the metal of the rack, "About that whole ending the relationship if you don't prove yourself by this weekend thing?" She paused tapping her fingernail against the metal rail waiting for acknowledgment from Riku. Still floundering around in his mind a bit, Riku forced himself to be present and listen to Kairi. He vaguely remembered something Kairi had said to him last Friday about breaking up if Riku didn't want to take the relationship seriously. He gave Kairi a curt nod.

"Don't worry about it okay? It was stupid for me to say something like that….besides," she smirked, "You kinda already did prove it." She was clearly thinking of the event on Sunday when he had almost stripped her down and ravaged her.

Riku found his mind drifting back to that day. It seemed like forever ago now. It was a distant memory and he could barely force it into his thoughts. It was a strange random event. He had been upset. Angry. Pissed off. He couldn't remember exactly why he had done it. He couldn't remember what she had felt like. Even when he was able to recall the memory, he couldn't quite place himself in it. It seemed like someone else. It was something that happened once and was never brought up or thought about again. He couldn't even remember _kissing_ Kairi since then.

He could kiss her now he realized eyeing her pink lips, they were dating after all.

Riku shifted on his feet. All he really wanted to do was get out of there and head home. He wanted to see Sora. Maybe watch another movie. He was somewhat anxious and jittery but he didn't really know why.

He could kiss her now…but he didn't want to. Suddenly he realized she was still talking.

"I mean, we're good right?"

He watched with detachment as the girl found a costume from the same movie and pulled it off the shelf. Slowly he placed a hand over hers, "No."

Kairi blinked up at him in confusion, "No what?"

"We're not good."

Kairi placed the costume back and turned to her boyfriend with hesitant anger, "This better be one of those, 'we're not good, we're great' jokes." She was preparing herself for the worst.

"No. You were right. Sora was right. Everyone was right. I'm not even _attracted _to you." Riku spoke while the revelation made it's way across his mind. He didn't mean to be so harsh.

"But…" Kairi looked around uncomfortable that this was happening in a public place but Riku continued.

"I'm sorry…" He said feeling like that was all there was left to say. He turned and left the shop. Kairi was still for a moment running the conversation through her head again trying to process what had just happened. She took off after Riku in a screaming rage.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" She screamed catching up to him in record time. Riku paused and accepted her verbal beating. She screamed and threw profanity at him for a good ten minutes before she had calmed down. Tears were streaming down her redden face.

Riku remembered a time when they had been friends. It hurt to see her like this. It hurt to see her like this because of him.

"I didn't want to hurt you, really." Riku insisted and then walked away because he really couldn't stand that things had turned out this way.

This time Kairi didn't follow.

* * *

**End Notes: **

*1. I know some people think it's tacky to make references to the game plot in an AU fanfic but I LOVE IT! This movie is a vague reference to Kingdom Hearts. The reason Kadaj has a character name and Cloud is just called Cloud is because I wanted their names to be similar to "land" and "sky" like Sora and Riku. Cloud is similar enough to sky and Harlan means something like 'rocky land.'

**Next Chapter: **Sexy Costume Party! xD


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes: **Wow! What a huge boost in followers! 0.o Thanks so much guys!

Okay so warning in advance guys. While deciding the progress of this story I decided I would include a Kairi-centric side story. I know she's not generally a favorite among the Soriku population but I like fics that include multiple story lines and I'm excited for her story.

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku, Kairi/Riku, Sora/Kadaj, Sora/Axel, Axel/Roxas, Kadaj/Cloud, Kairi/?

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, sexual themes, leather

Enjoy!

* * *

Ch. 6 Friday (the party)

* * *

Kairi appeared at Sora's door the night of the break up and stayed over the night.

"What happened Kairi?" Sora asked honestly confused. What was Riku thinking breaking up with the girl he had fought to obtain for so many years?

"Wish I knew." Kairi admitted digging her spoon into the semi-melting ice cream in the tub in her lap.

They were silent for a while both pretending to be absorbed in the movie Sora was playing but both really absorbed in their thoughts.

Had Riku not been happy with Kairi? Sora didn't think that was right. Kairi was a wonderful girl and they had always gotten along as friends. Then again, Riku did avoid her and he was never really couple-y with her but Sora just figured that was the way Riku dealt with relationships. It was Riku's first relationship after all, it wasn't like he knew what he was doing.

"You know," Kairi said allowing Sora access to the tub of moose track ice cream, "It's like the greatest thing ever that you're gay."

Sora laughed scoping up a bit of vanilla ice cream with a hunk of fudge, "….Thanks, I guess?"

Kairi giggled, "But really. I couldn't imagine dating you but I also couldn't imagine not having you in my life. You're my best friend and it's great that we can hang out and have sleepovers and talk about relationship stuff without it being weird."

A small smile graced Sora's lips as he thought about how lucky he was to have such accepting friends and family. He had heard horror stories about people coming out of the closet only to be met with homophobes. Granted, the culture of the islands had always been pretty lax about things like that. Being the type of area that it was, a romantic getaway for all kinds of couples, they didn't tend to judge.

* * *

Riku spotted his friend at lunch but as he made his way over, he caught sight of Kairi and stopped in his tracks.

He'd hurt Kairi.

Sora was comforting her in that Sora kind of way. He was making faces every time she veered too close to sadness. It made Riku smile. Sora was a natural at making people feel better.

Sora may never talk to him again, he realized. Sora had always been very protective of their female friend. He stood there a moment. Sora glanced up and Riku considered running to hide but the brunet didn't look mad. Riku breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe things would be okay.

Still, he decided it wasn't safe to approach them right now.

The student-body hadn't quite caught up with the recent drama in the trio's lives and the only topic worth conversing that day was Selphie's party. You couldn't walk down the hall without hearing about costumes and music. Apparently, Selphie had invited the whole school.

Excitement filled the air as her parties always turned out to be legendary and life-changing events. Riku was already feeling like his life was changing drastically so the party seemed like a good time for a life-altering event.

He wasn't confident that he was doing the right thing but he knew he was going to do it anyway.

* * *

Riku arrived at the party a half an hour late in the futile hope to make an entrance. This failed entirely when he discovered Sora had not yet arrived. He frowned. Sora wasn't generally a "fashionably-late" type of person. In fact, he liked to be the first at a party to help get the mood going and he was fantastic at it. Upon further inspection and questioning, it was also determined that Kairi was not there either. Riku's brow furrowed.

If that girl was going to ruin his night…

His thoughts were interrupted but a bubbly Selphie, "Whoa! Riku!" She whistled, "On the prowl for a rebound?"

Riku shrugged figuring there was nothing else to do until Sora got there (_IF _Sora got there) and he came here to have a good time. He moved into the crowd to mingle with his friends. Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus were bundled together just on the outskirts of the dance floor though Selphie was still swaying to the music. With the way here eyes were darting around it was clear she was only there to chat for a minute before she sprung herself back into her own party. Selphie's costume was some sort of sparkly fairy _thing_, Riku couldn't find a way to describe it.

Tidus, dressed as a pirate, slapped him on the back, "Duuuuude! What happened?" He had to yell a bit to be heard over the music.

"What do you mean?" Riku knew exactly what he meant and wasn't terribly surprised to find that the news had already made it's way to his friends.

"Kairi man!"

Riku shrugged, "Didn't work out."

"Awww," Wakka chimed in, "She break your heart?" Wakka surprisingly enough was dressed as a private detective.

Riku shrugged because really he wasn't in the mood to discuss this with people, "Rather not talk about it."

"I hear ya." Tidus yelled.

"The whole situation was kind of weird though. Wasn't it?" Selphie, always unable to let things drop asked, "I mean Kairi dating you instead of Sora. Whoa! Shocker! Though can't blame her." She added eyeing Riku appreciatively, "I was surprised Sora didn't try to fight you for her!"

Riku didn't respond. She leaned over to say to him (though the others could hear as well), "I suspect he swings the other way."

Riku blinked, had that already become a rumor? "Where did you hear that?"

She shrugged, "Well, more of a guess really. I mean he doesn't try and hide it anyway so I think it's cool."

He doesn't? Did Riku miss something? Was Sora running around flirting with boys and flaunting his homosexuality. Was Riku really _that blind_ to have missed it for a year?

Tidus joined in, "He is for real you know." He said leaning in towards his friends as if he was the only one who had been graced with this knowledge, "He told me yesterday when I mentioned how Yuna has a nice ass."

"Charming." Wakka, ever the gentleman, deadpanned.

Riku glared at him, "What makes you think that's your information to share?"

Tidus shrugged, "He was really open and casual about it but anyway I wouldn't have said anything except he said it was okay. He wanted the news out there. That's your cue Queen of Gossip."

Selphie winked accepting the title and the mission. Riku was still uncomfortable. Why had Sora kept something a secret for a year then suddenly decided he wanted the world to know? Just when he thought he was getting to know the boy better, he does something to confuse him even more. Riku grumbled.

* * *

An hour later, Riku gave up on his friend showing up. He was starting to get uncomfortable in his costume so he walked out into the cool night air hoping this would help some.

The interesting thing about costume parties, Riku noted, was that the longer the party went on the more costume items were abandoned. Already there was a scattering of wands, hats, sunglasses, and other costume accoutrement throughout the back yard. There were quite a few other people out there as well but no one Riku knew so he ignored them. He watched the crowds playing games and making out in the backyard from his place on the porch. Riku wasn't terribly good at making friends. All of his friends he had known since childhood or been introduced to by Sora. Riku wasn't a social person. He'd never felt like he needed anyone else than the friends he had. He'd never felt like he needed anyone other than Sora.

The reason Sora is probably so important to him, he realized, is because he is his oldest and best friend. They've known each other forever. Sora perhaps didn't value their friendship as much because Sora could make friends with anyone. Pretty much everyone in the school could say that they had met Sora and not one would say they disliked him. He was naturally sociable and likeable.

He didn't need Riku like Riku needed him.

Lost in his musings he didn't noticed the door open and close behind him. The voice that spoke however brought him out of his thoughts, "Riku…"

Riku turned around to see Sora. He smirked when Sora's eyes raked over him in slow motion and his lips parted in surprise. Sora seemed frozen for a moment and Riku stood there to let the younger boy drink his appearance in. Posing casually in a way to make it look like he wasn't posing Riku tilted his head back and placed both this arms on the rail around the porch behind him.

"You're-" Sora finally started, "…Kadaj." Sora licked his lips and Riku felt like his question had been answered. As far as he could tell, the brunet was attracted to him. Granted this was mostly, if not entirely, because he was currently dressed in tight black leather just like Kadaj wore in the movie they had watched together.

He let Sora continue to stare for a minute before breaking the moment, "Didn't think you were going to make it."

"Oh." Sora snapped out of his trance as his brain worked to regain the memories of why he had wanted to talk to Riku. "I was with Kairi."

"Is she here?"

Sora nodded and motioned with his head to show she was inside.

"Is she okay?"

Sora nodded again, "She is. I think she's gotten it out of her system and is fine now."

Riku found an empty rusted chair and plopped down in it hoping it wouldn't collapse under his weight. It held firm and Sora pulled a chair next to him to sit as well.

"What happened?"

Riku asked, "You were the one who said it weren't you? You said it didn't even seem like I liked her."

"Well…" Sora shrugged.

"You were right. We were good as friends but didn't work as more than that." He barked a short almost bitter laugh, "We were barely even good as friends. She was always more of your friend anyway."

"I hate for things to be this way but I guess it was unavoidable."

They sat in silence for a moment while Sora drifted off in thought. Riku shifted in his chair causing a creak from both the metal chair and the leather costume. The brunet's attention snapped back to him with the sound and he suddenly blushed re-observing Riku's outfit he had apparently forgotten about during his musings. Riku couldn't help enjoying the way the other boy looked at him. He was aware that he was attractive and he had been looked at often by other people but it was different with Sora. It was like Riku had won something when Sora's eyes roved appreciatively over his body. It was nice to know his gay friend wasn't immune to his charm.

Riku felt silly and a little dishonest reveling in the other boy's attention but he had to admit it was a nice confidence boost. He became a little uncomfortable when those deep blue eyes fell on his. There was a look in those eyes Riku couldn't comprehend. Suddenly a tingling sensation engulfed his body and he didn't know what to do with it.

A little uncomfortable and not sure what else to do, he stood up and walked back inside aware that Sora's eyes were probably on his backside as he walked. He felt warm at that thought and realized he was blushing.

He had dressed this way on purpose of course. He was curious how Sora would react. What he didn't expect was how he himself would react.

It seemed all he did these days was think about Sora…

That wasn't particularly unusual, Riku tried to rationalize, after all his thoughts were on the boy back during their childhood too. Back when they would spar and race and turn everything into a competition. Back when they had secret places all to their own and a secret language created just for them. Back when Kairi had just been a person to help judge their matches and settle their disputes. Before she had become the center piece to their sparring.

There was suddenly a very clear memory replaying in his head. He remembered once slipping into his and Sora's secret cave. He knew immediately someone else was there and had half a sentence out of his mouth before he realized _two _other people were there. Sora and Kairi paused their doodling on the cave walls to look up at him. Riku would never forget the feeling that was heavy in his gut that day. He felt betrayed. He thought he would never forgive Sora. He knew their friendship would be changed forever and he didn't like it.

He did forgive Sora of course because he couldn't figure out what to do without the boy in his life leading their adventures.

Riku spotted his friends as he walked back inside and quickly joined their game of 'Never Have I Ever' to give his mind something else to do. He reflected on his earlier thought about Sora always being on his mind and had to admit that he had always been a little obsessed with the boy. Possessive even.

* * *

It seemed like every time Riku looked around, his eyes found Sora's absentmindedly staring at him. He simultaneous hated the way it made him feel exposed and loved the fact that he could have this effect on the other boy.

* * *

Unable to stand the allure of Riku any longer, Sora headed upstairs to give himself some space away from the other boy. Sora could barely breathe every time he caught a glimpse of Riku in that tight leather.

What was Riku thinking? It couldn't be an accident that he chose to dress as Sora's celebrity crush. Sora groaned as he couldn't help thinking that Riku looked even better in the clothing that Kadaj had.

"Goddammit Riku. What are you trying to pull?" Sora muttered to himself. He found an empty bedroom upstairs and slipped into it. It was a relief to be away from the noise and away from the temptation of Riku. He collapsed on the bed suddenly realizing how hot he was and how cool this room was being away from the mass of people. He unbuttoned his shirt to let the cool air wash over him. Unfortunately, his mind drifted back to Riku and he was suddenly hot in a whole different way.

He scowled. This wasn't fair. Riku wasn't allowed to inadvertently tease him by dressing sexy. But…was it inadvertent? Or had Riku done it one purpose? Sora shook his head but the images remained.

Riku's muscles rippling under the fabric as he moved; Riku's pale skin in stark contrast to the black leather; Riku's green eyes vibrant among the blacks and pale neutrals; Those green eyes peeking up at him through the silver waterfall of his hair….

….the way his ass looked as he walked away.

Sora gulped. He was all kinds of turned on and was having trouble banishing the thoughts. He wasn't supposed to allow himself thoughts like that. Riku was forbidden. That didn't stop him from keeping a mental snapshot of Riku all leathered up for use on a lonely night. He took a shuddering breath, "You have this under control. You've had this under control for so long now. Don't break."

Sora would never admit it- he even avoided admitting it to himself though he knew it was true- but he found Riku attractive. For as long as he could remember, he had admired Riku. Somewhere down the road, that admiration had turned into a little more. He was aware of it but made a pact with himself to never admit it. He felt like if he admitted it, they couldn't be friends anymore and Sora couldn't jeopardize their friendship. Riku was incredibly important to Sora but he sometimes found himself pushing the other boy away scared by his feelings for him.

He thought his straight best friend was sexy. So what? So long as he never acted on it everything would be okay. Riku was currently making it terribly difficult to ignore though.

Unable to calm himself Sora considered relieving the pressure another way. If for no other reason than to avoid jumping Riku due to sexual frustration.

But he was in someone else's house. That was weird right? He idly traced the line of bare skin just above his pant line.

He could lock the door….

No, still too weird. He sighed and redirected his thoughts. He would spend a few minutes calming down then he could go home and do as he pleased.

He was ashamed to admit it wouldn't be the first time he'd touched himself to thoughts of Riku.

"Right, redirecting thoughts." He informed himself. He thought of ice baths and took a deep breath.

* * *

Riku had noticed Sora's lack of presence suddenly. He was disturbed as he found himself missing the other's gaze. He was discreetly searching for him when the brunet descended the stairs. Riku's eyes locked on the boy and he couldn't look away. Sora's shirt was undone, his tanned skin exposed. Riku had seen Sora shirtless before. They lived on a beach after all. Most boys on the island were in a nearly constant state of topless-ness. Something about the light, or the night, or the memory of the tingly feeling he got when Sora looked at him made Riku stare. Two pairs of lust-filled eyes met then looked away.

Sora left the party and Riku, realizing there wasn't much point in staying after Sora had gone, waited a few minutes and left as well.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **The chapter you all have been waiting (oh so patiently) for…


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes: **Ug, this is the second rewrite. Still not sure if I'm happy with it. I _had _up to chapter twelve written but now I think I'm going to end up rewriting all of it. Sorry in advance if updates become less frequent.

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku, Kairi/Riku, Sora/Kadaj, Sora/Axel, Axel/Roxas, Kadaj/Cloud, Kairi/?

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, sexual themes, language

Enjoy!

* * *

Ch. 7 Saturday

* * *

Riku appeared at Sora's door on Saturday afternoon. Sora was feeling groggy from staying up late at the party and sleeping through the morning. He wasn't in the mood for getting out of bed at the moment.

"Come in." He called when Riku knocked so he wouldn't have to get up.

Riku stepped inside and quirked a smile at his friend, "Still sleeping?"

"Mmmm headache." Sora didn't feel like using sentences at the moment either.

Riku gave him an aw-poor-baby look and invited himself onto the bed. He laid next to Sora and tucked his hands behind his head in a casual way that told anyone who cared to notice that, welcome or not, he had no intention of moving.

Sora tensed at the sudden presence in his bed but didn't say anything. When his friend failed to protest Riku turned on his side bringing himself closer to the other boy. Sora could feel his skin goose bump at the expectation but lack of contact.

"You enjoy the party?"

Immediately images of leather-clad Riku popped into Sora's head. '_Not helping'_ he growled silently at his brain. He gave a little nod to Riku.

"I'm glad Kairi's handling things. Looks like the three of us can be friends again." Sora noted.

Riku shifted closer. Sora bristled but not in an unpleasant way. He considered throwing Riku out of his bed but before he could, the other boy curled up against his side and placed his chin on Sora's forehead.

Riku's chin was moving. Sora was aware that he was talking but couldn't hear anything over the sound of his own heartbeat.

Riku wasn't supposed to be doing this. Riku wasn't supposed to be so close. Riku didn't realized what effect he had on the other boy. It would be wrong of Sora to take advantage of this.

Maybe he was acting weird because of the breakup, Sora reasoned. Riku had, on occasion, shown to be a cuddly type when he got upset. When they were younger, Riku would often climb through Sora's window in the middle of the night if he was upset. He would just cuddle up with Sora and sleep. Sora never asked why. As far as he was concerned, his window was always open for Riku.

This seemed like one of those times. Perhaps Riku was coping with the loss of his girlfriend (even though he'd been the one to break if off) and this was his way of dealing. Sora could live with that. It was a good explanation. The brunet relaxed and allowed himself to enjoy the hug.

The breakup was probably harder on the older boy than Sora realized.

Sora felt a pressure on his head and looked up to see what it was. As his face turned upward, his lips brushed very slightly against the lips that had been pressed against his head.

_NO, FORBIDDEN! RIKU IS FORBIDDEN_!

Riku continued to hover there. Once again, the air sizzled with the expectation but lack of contact. Sora's brain slowly clicked into place that his friend had just kissed him on the head. Without thinking any longer, Sora closed the negligible distance between them.

For a moment, Riku did nothing and Sora's brain screamed that he had just made a terrible mistake but then the other boy's lips tentatively began to move against his and Sora melted into the kiss.

It was so much more than any kiss he could imagine. It sent warm tingles all over his body.

The kiss broke but they remained close together for a moment. Riku pulled back a little so he could see Sora's expression. Sora stared into those aqua eyes as if he would gladly drown in them. Riku stared back. Sora blinked. Riku narrowed his eyes.

"Well! Say something!" They both demanded simultaneously.

Riku smiled, Sora beamed.

"Stop smiling Idiot." Riku teased pinching Sora's cheek.

"You're smiling too!" Sora accused.

Riku chortled and Sora couldn't stop himself from kissing him again. The fact that Riku wasn't freaking out was a victory for Sora. He was going to get as much out of his friend's good mood as possible. Their lips brushed against each other's softly hesitant to go any deeper.

Sora tentatively pressed their lips together tighter. He was this far already, might as well be perfectly clear. He tilted his head and locked their lips completely together so Riku would have no doubt he wanted this. To his pleased astonishment, Riku returned the pressure and kissed back. They broke apart only to rejoin again as if their lips belonged together. Riku started participating more enthusiastically in the kisses and Sora's mind went blank of anything else.

Sensation. Pure sensation.

"You left my door opened." Sora mumbled against Riku's lips.

Riku bolted upright apparently startled by the sudden return to reality. He glared at the door wondering if he should get up or if that would kill the mood. He liked what was happening and he wasn't sure there would be a second chance.

Riku decided on one more kiss before getting up to close the door. Unfortunately, Sora was already up ruining his plans. Sora clicked the door closed and they looked at each other from across the room.

How were they supposed to feel?

Should this be awkward? Should it be romantic? Should it be life revealing?

Riku cleared his throat and Sora looked away awkwardly.

"So…"

"Sora?" Riku stood up and walked across the room to him.

"Are you sure about this?" Sora asked flinching at the words. He didn't want a response. Not really. How was Riku supposed to respond?

Riku laughed much to Sora's surprise.

"No," he admitted, "I have no idea what I'm doing." He stepped away rubbing his neck awkwardly, "It was just…at the party."

'_Ah, yes…the party.' _Images of Riku from that night flashed through Sora's mind.

"I noticed the way you looked at me." Riku blushed looking away from Sora, "and…I dunno. I liked it." Honesty, Riku hadn't been able to think about anything else all night. He hadn't slept. He had been up all night working up the courage to go see Sora.

Sora flushed. He had hoped Riku hadn't noticed. "I certainly wasn't the only one giving you looks." He mumbled trying to regain some of his pride.

"That's part of the point… it wasn't just the attention. I liked that it was you."

Sora tried to breathe but found he couldn't. "What does that…mean?"

"I don't know."

"Riku…"

The silver-haired boy moved forward until he was in front of his friend with his hands on either side of Sora's face. He looked down at Sora through a curtain of silver.

"Can I kiss you again?"

The thoughts Sora told himself he should be thinking: _'Riku is forbidden. If this ends badly it could ruin our friendship forever. How would Kairi feel? What if Riku isn't serious…just curious? What if my feelings for Riku are deeper than he's prepared for?' _

Instead, all Sora could really think about was how it felt when he kissed Riku.

"Yes."

Riku leaned in for a kiss and Sora resumed his previous melted-butter-state.

* * *

Sora laid spread eagle on his bed trying (and failing) or sort his thoughts. Riku had left half an hour ago but Sora's heart rate still hadn't calmed. He was trying to think things through but his mind was blank.

Riku had kissed him. _Riku had kissed him. _It seemed entirely impossible but it was true.

Sora continued to lay there thinking these thoughts over and over until he considered calling Kairi. Maybe if he talked about it with someone it would seem more real. He realized, while Kairi was his normal choice for things like this, she wasn't the right person to talk to because 1. She didn't know about Sora's feeling for Riku, 2. She had just dated Riku and 3. It wasn't his place to tell. Riku was straight. He couldn't just go blabbing that they had kissed. What if Riku didn't want anyone to know?

Sora sighed. The most wonderful thing that just happened and he couldn't tell anyone.

….or at least he couldn't tell any of Riku's friends. He sat up in his bed getting an idea: _Roxas. _

Roxas was, after all, the one who had helped Sora realize his feeling for Riku in the first place.

He had the cordless home phone in his hand and was dialing before he remembered that Roxas hadn't been talking to him since the Axel situation. They were still on friendly terms, Sora guessed but Roxas wasn't as comfortable talking to him. He finished dialing and listened to the ring tone hopefully.

Sora was about to give up after the fifth set of rings but Roxas picked up before he hung up.

"Hey."

"Roxas!"

"…Yeah. What do you want man?"

"I didn't think you were going to pick up!"

Roxas snorted, "Well I did."

Unable to wait Sora blurted out what he wanted to talk about, "We kissed!"

There was a long pause on the other side of the line before the voice returned somewhat bitterly, "Yeah….We've been over this Sora. I said I forgive you."

"No. What? No! Not that! Riku! I kissed Riku."

"SORA! No way!"

"Yep."

"Well…what did he do? I'm guess from your mood, he didn't reject you?"

"He kissed me back." Sora said dreamily plopping down on his floor.

"Whoa…"

"Well?"

"This is pretty big Sora. I mean…you've liked this guy, like, forever."

"I know." Sora grumbled, "I feel like this queasy nervous feeling in my stomach will never go away!"

"…I hate to say it. But you need to be careful. What if he's just…experimenting?"

"I know…" Sora sighed, "I've thought about that."

Roxas didn't respond and Sora realized he was probably thinking about Axel.

"Hey, um….if you've forgiven me…Why weren't you talking to me?"

Roxas sighed, "It wasn't like I was avoiding talking to you or anything."

"I guess…"

"You still talk to Axel," It wasn't a question so Sora didn't respond, "He talks about you a lot. I'm a little surprised you didn't call _him _to talk about this."

"You're like my best friend Roxas. Of course I'd tell you. Besides you're the one who knows about Riku so you know what a big deal this is."

"Axel's gonna be mad he wasn't the first to know."

Suddenly getting a little frustrated that his brother was harping on an issue that was supposedly resolved a year ago Sora snapped, "Axel can deal. I wanted to talk to you! And I'm a little pissed that your still holding a grudge about that Axel thing when you said you were over it and I just wanted to talk about my good news!"

Sora decided to hang up instead of giving Roxas a chance to respond but then he suddenly felt bad about his outburst. Sora groaned. He had just wanted to talk to someone but now he was irritated and he his headache was coming back. He plopped down on his bed and decided to sleep the rest of the evening away. Not like he was going to get anything done in his current mood anyway.

* * *

A soft '_bbrrrrr brrrrrrrrrr' _sound intruded into Sora's sleep. It took a minuet for his brain to wake up enough to comprehend what he was hearing.

He rolled off his bed onto the floor and dug through a pile of blankets and pillows which had been thrown off his bed in his sleep. Apparently it was a very restful nap. Under the bedding, the phone was ringing away.

Sora picked it up with a groggy and moody, "Hey."

The line was silent. "Must have missed it…" Sora moved to hang up the phone but returned it to his ear when he thought he heard something, "Is someone there?"

Silence again.

Sora groaned and went to hang up again when he heard it:

Very quietly and meekly "…Sorry."

"Hmmm?"

"I said 'I'm sorry!'" Roxas' voice announced.

"Roxas?"

"You're just so _freaking **naïve**_ sometimes! You_ betrayed me_ and _I know_ you apologized but- **It SO ANNOYING**! I….I just…"

"Did you call to apologize or just to yell at me?"

Roxas sighed, "It just _annoys_ me and I don't know why."

Sora arranged the pillows on his floor into a makeshift seat and sat down. A long time ago Roxas had helped him realize his feeling for Riku it seemed like now it was time for him to return the favor. He settled in comfortably preparing himself for a long struggle.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Kairi's reaction to the new development


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes: **Kind of short chapter in which not much happens. There will be more Sora/Riku adorableness next chap.

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku, Kairi/Riku, Sora/Kadaj, Sora/Axel, Axel/Roxas, Kadaj/Cloud, Kairi/?

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, sexual themes, language

Enjoy!

* * *

Ch 8 Sunday

* * *

Sora didn't see either of his friends Sunday morning which was probably for the best since he had a ton of homework to catch up on. He could get it done a lot faster, he realized, if he stopped daydreaming about Riku though.

Pretty quickly he realized how impossible a task that was and decided to just give in and let himself daydream all he wanted. After all, it wasn't everyday the man you've been attracted to for three years kisses you.

Sora still couldn't believe it.

* * *

Sunday morning Riku appeared at Kairi's door. He knew this wouldn't be fun and there were tons of different ways he'd rather be spending his time but it seemed like something he needed to do especially with the recent turn of events. It wasn't until he knocked that he realized this would be the first time he'd spoken to her since the breakup. Sora said she seemed fine but…

Before he had time to think anymore about it, Kairi's dad opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" He asked puffing himself up defensively.

"I just wanted to talk to Kairi." Riku said taking a step backwards and regretting this approach suddenly.

"What, so you can break her heart again?"

"No….I…"

An enormously long silence passed in which Riku fidgeted and tried to figure out what to say and Kairi's dad glared and wondered if he had missed the opportunity to dramatically slam the door on this unwelcome intruder.

"Dad." Kairi appeared behind her father with her hands on her hips, "What are you doing?"

"Riku wanted to talk to you."

"So let him talk to me."

Kairi's dad stared astonished at his daughter. Kairi rolled her eyes, "We're friends remember?"

The man grumbled to himself but stepped aside to let his beloved daughter see the heart-breaking mongrel.

Kairi turned to Riku when her father left, "Yeah?" She asked somewhat guarded.

"Can we talk?" Riku glanced behind Kairi into the house, "Walk?"

"Kay." Kairi grabbed her keys from beside the door and shouted an explanation to her dad (who was probably within hearing range anyway).

"Look," Kairi started after closing the door behind her when Riku failed to start explaining himself immediately, "If you're going to apologize- let's just forget about it, okay? I don't want to harp on this thing.."

"Okay," Riku agreed, "So no apology but forgiven?"

"Yes but only if you forgive me too."

"For what?"

"For what I'm about to say…"

Riku waited curiously as they took a back way around the neighborhood.

"I just…well, if you have any feelings for me…." Kairi changed her course mid-sentence, "You didn't come by to ask me out again did you?"

"No."

"Thank god." Kairi smiled finally letting her guard down, "I was going to say that I don't want to do that again so if you still had feelings for me we couldn't be friends. I've done a lot of thinking lately and I realized that it was a mistake for us to try. I think….well, I feel like a terrible person, but I think I was dating you to kind of… test Sora. I mean, I knew he didn't have feelings for me but… I guess I wanted to see how he would react. I wanted to know it would be okay. Forgive me?"

"It's okay. I kind of feel like once it was realized that Sora wasn't going to date you, it was like…required that I date you instead."

Kairi smiled, "So, friends? The three of us again like nothing happened?"

"…Not exactly." This was the hard part. Riku wasn't quite sure how to tell Kairi about what had happened but he knew he had to tell her.

Kairi tilted her head questioningly at Riku.

"Sora and I…"

"Is something wrong? What happened? Are you two fighting again?"

"We kissed."

Kairi froze and Riku paused at her side watching the horizon so he didn't have to look at her, "You okay?"

"I'm….not sure." Kairi fidgeted. A silence passed during which neither moved.

"I want to talk to Sora." Kairi suddenly decided.

Riku nodded a little disappointed that he wasn't getting a reaction straight away but relived that she hadn't thrown a fit or gone nuts. They turned around and started strolling back to Kairi's house.

"So you kissed him…" Kairi murmured.

Riku wasn't sure if she was expecting a response, "Yeah."

"And you liked it?"

"…Yeah." A soft smiled started forming on Riku's face at the memory.

"And you want to do it again?"

"Yeah." The soft smile looked foreign on Riku's face. Kairi was sure she had never seen that expression on him before. Part of her brain screamed that she should be jealous but the much larger part thought it was cute.

"So are you going to ask him out?"

Riku bit his lip and actually blushed the lightest shade of pink. Kairi almost giggled at the sight. Clearly whatever he felt for Sora was much more than what he ever felt for her. She felt a twinge of pain at the idea but brushed it off.

"I don't know…I mean," He looked suddenly worried, "What would we do? I couldn't just take him out like a girl."

Kairi really giggled this time.

"What?"

"You are so stinking cute!"

"Cute?" He scrunched his nose up in disgust.

"You really like him don't you?"

Riku tossed his head back towards the sky, "I don't know! I mean he's my best friend! I never even considered the possibility of…." he couldn't think of a word so he just skipped it, "At least before he told me about…." words failed him once again, "I don't know." he concluded.

"There's a lot you don't know."

"Yeah."

"Well, you better figure it out."

"I know."

They reached the point in their walk where they would heading different directions if Kairi was heading to Sora's house and Riku was going home. They split up with an awkward wave and Kairi took her time heading to Sora's place letting the new information sink in.

* * *

Sora's front door was always unlocked so long as someone was home and Sora's friends were always welcome to invite themselves in. This method saved Norah from having to answer the door to Sora's frequent visitors.

Kairi peeked into Sora's bedroom only to find he wasn't there. His room was a mess. He had clearly been on a homework rampage as textbooks, notebooks, and papers were strew around the room. Science on the bed, math at the desk, English on the floor, and history in the closet. It was Sora's method. The energy-ball of a boy had to be in constant motion so he would switch assignments every ten minutes or so and relocate to the appropriate place in his room. Kairi had never really understood it and was quite taken-aback when she experienced the process for the first time during middle school.

Kairi returned downstairs where she found Norah in the kitchen.

Norah looked up from her coffee, "Kairi! What a pleasure. How are you? Doing better?"

"Much," Kairi smiled at the woman who acted so motherly towards anyone who strolled into her house, "Where's Sora?"

"He's been roaming the house like a crazy person all morning. I think he was in the den last."

"The den?" Despite how much time Kairi spent over there, she spent little time in rooms other than the kitchen, living room, and Sora's room. Still she was surprised to hear about a room she wasn't familiar with, "You have a den?"

"Yeah, it's original purpose was a guest bedroom I had set up when Sora wanted to have sleepovers with his friends and meet his half-brother but all our guests tend to just stay in Sora's room so it never gets used. Sora goes in there sometimes to think."

It surprised (and upset) Kairi that there was something about Sora she didn't know. She idly wondered if Riku knew about the den then realized what she was doing and stopped herself. It was no wonder she had missed it. The entrance was a sliding door easily mistakable for a wall.

Kairi found Sora sprawled out on the floor next to the bed hugging a pillow to his side and staring at the ceiling as he aimlessly flicked the cord-switch for the lamp on the bedside table.

"Jeez, you look like you're having a breakdown."

Sora's eyes suddenly flicked to her in surprise. He sat up and pushed a big pair of headphones off his ears, "What?"

Kairi smirked, "Nothing. What are you doing?"

"Wallowing."

"In what?"

"Haven't decided yet. What are you doing here?" Sora arranged himself so he was sitting comfortably.

Kairi shrugged and sat down next to him, "Wanted to talk to you."

"Okaaaay." Sora said puzzled by her awkwardness.

"I talked to Riku…"

Sora stiffened, readjusted, and sucked his teeth, "Okay."

Seeing Sora on full guarded mode made Kairi tense up and she realized she wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to say, "Um…well…" Sora started jiggling his leg next to Kairi, "I…."

"You're killing me. Please, just out with it?"

The pleading look in Sora's eyes made Kairi realize that he was panicking a little. Kairi was taken-aback by this. Sora rarely panicked. He wasn't that type.

"He told me you two kissed."

And just like that the panicky, nervous, guarded Sora disappeared with the ease of a grin, "He told you that?!"

Kairi blinked at Sora surprised by the sudden transformation, "What did you think I was going to say?"

"I dunno, that you two got back together or something."

"Sora…"

Sora smiled sheepishly, "I really didn't think he'd tell you. I was….well, worried that he had changed his mind."

"You're like…lovesick or something…" Kairi stated in awe. She had never seen Sora in such a state.

Sora plopped down on the floor letting the previously abandoned pillow catch his head, "It's _Riku_, Kairi. _Riku kissed me._" It felt so good to say.

"You like him." It wasn't a question so much as it was a realization, "How long have you….?"

"Might as well be forever." Sora murmured dreamily before sitting up suddenly, "Sorry! I should be more considerate of your feelings."

He looked pained trying to hold back and Kairi had to laugh, "No, I want to talk remember."

Relieved Sora laid back down eager to ask his next question, "What did he say?"

Kairi smiled at the barely-concealed jittery excitement of her friend, "He just wanted to make sure I knew I guess. Wanted to make sure we could still be friends."

"Yeah but….what did he saaaaay. About me?"

It surprised Kairi just how in love Sora was. How long had he hidden these feelings? "He… was happy." Kairi said remembering the dreamy smile on Riku's face.

A sign which quickly became a moan escaped Sora's lips, "This is torture."

"You know…when Riku and I were dating, he was worried about hurting your feelings. I didn't think much about it because I knew you weren't attracted to me but…I guess it wasn't me I should have been worried about. I'm sorry I didn't think about your feelings. It must have been hard."

Sora sat up and stared at Kairi a long moment before deciding there were no words to express what he was feeling. So he hugged her.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** back to school Sora and Riku decide how to handle a relationship.

review please!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes: **blarg

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku, Kairi/Riku, Sora/Kadaj, Sora/Axel, Axel/Roxas, Kadaj/Cloud, Kairi/?

**Warnings: **Male/male relationships, sexual themes, language

Enjoy!

* * *

Ch. 9 Monday

* * *

Riku wondered what he was going to do as he walked to school Monday. Should he be all romantic with Sora? Wouldn't that be weird? Maybe he should pretend it didn't happen until after school. What if Sora just kissed him in the halls? Should they hold hands? They probably had to talk about this didn't they? But Riku didn't know what to say. He hadn't been able figure out anything despite the fact that he had spent all of Sunday afternoon and evening thinking about it.

Riku felt like his head was about to explode. He spotted Sora in the distance waiting in front of Kairi's house for him. The questions in Riku's head multiplied. Her seriously considered turning around, going back home and forgetting about the world.

Sora spotted him and shot him a grin. Suddenly Riku's mind was blank. He smiled back.

"Riku! Finally!" Kairi announced having spotted him as well now, "I was starting to think we were going to be late!"

Riku's anxiety immediately returned as Sora and Kairi fell into step on either side of him.

'_All I would have to do is move my hand slightly and I could be holding Sora's hand.' _He felt too awkward so he decided against it. They walked in an awkward silence while Kairi chatted about something useless just to create noise.

Riku glance over at Sora by his side unable to help himself from getting another peek. Sora's eyes met his with a shy smile that made Riku's heart pick up pace.

Right before they reached the entrance of the school, Sora shot Kairi a meaningful look and pulled Riku aside. Sora found a place for them to talk away from prying eyes and ears.

"So, hey." Sora said watching his shuffling feet.

"Hey."

"Um…can I kiss you?"

As an answer Riku leaned in and presented his lips only an inch away from Sora's. Without any hesitation, Sora closed the space and connected their lips.

There was nothing in the world like kissing Sora, Riku decided. Only a kiss affected his whole body. He didn't think he'd ever get used to this feeling.

Sora smiled as the kiss broke, "I meant can I kiss you whenever I want to?"

"Yes." Riku answered automatically. He didn't realize what he'd agreed to until he saw Sora's face light up at his answer.

It was basically permission to make people aware of the new situation between them. This made Riku a little nervous but he decided since he already agreed there was no reason to get squeamish about it.

"Will you go out with me?"

Riku looked over to Sora a little surprised by the question.

"Like on a date." Sora clarified.

"Okay." They were this far already, no point in holding back now.

Besides…that smile on Sora's face was too much to resist.

Said smile was now in full-on goofy grin mode. "Well, I guess we should go to class now."

"Yeah."

The trio actually had no classes together that year. It was frustrating but probably for the best that they weren't around to distract each other during class. They still got to see each other before school, during lunch, and after school. Also occasionally in the halls.

While walking through the entrance, Sora offered his hand to Riku. He turned his hand palm out and splayed it at his side as a casual 'if you want to, it's here' gesture.

Riku took it and didn't know how he'd ever walked without holding Sora's hand. Riku's classroom was on the way to Sora's so they walked hand-in-hand through the empty halls towards the room. When they reached the door they paused awkwardly for a millisecond before Sora leaned up and placed a soft peck on Riku's lips. When he pulled away to leave, Riku grabbed his waist and pulled him in for another kiss.

Three or four pecks later, Sora finally left for class.

"See you at lunch!" He laughed skipping away.

* * *

Sora skipped giddily everywhere he went that day.

"Dude, what the heck is wrong with you?" Tidus asked watching the boy who was practically radiating with glee.

Tidus and Sora shared fourth period history and the class had just dismissed finally allowing them to go to lunch. Sora just grinned instead of offering an answer and Tidus stared at him seriously wondering if his friend had lost it. They walked to lunch together (well, Tidus walked; Sora skipped) but split up when they got to the cafeteria as Tidus had to go buy his lunch and Sora had brought his own from home.

Sora made it to their usual spot, flung his backpack aside and dropped a kiss on Riku's cheek. Riku turned at the contact and made their lips meet. The kiss would've lasted longer if it hadn't been for Selphie's ear-shattering scream.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Selphie slammed her hands on the table and both boys watched her a little shocked. She didn't seem like the type to have a problem with this. "You guys are such gossip hogs! Seriously! The school didn't have enough to talk about you guys already?"

Both boys breathed; she wasn't being mean, she was being dramatic.

"First," she ticked off her fingers, "Riku and Kairi start dating. THEN we find out Sora's gay. THEN Riku breaks up with Kairi. NOW not only is Riku gay but DATING SORA! You guys are killing me. It's like a soap opera. I don't think the rumor-mill has had anything to talk about except the three of you for the past week!"

Sometime during the speech or the kiss, Sora had settled comfortably in Riku's lap. He snuggled into Riku's shoulder ignoring the rest of Selphie's rant. This situation was so unbelievable that Sora actually had a hard time remembering it was real when Riku wasn't around to remind him.

Tidus approached the table balancing his tray and drink, "Riku and Sora are what now?" He asked having caught most of what Selphie had yelled. His eyes flickered to the boys who had revived their previous make-out session.

"Well…that's weird." Tidus admitted but sat down at the table anyway next to Kairi who had been sitting quietly through the whole thing, "Isn't this super-weird for you?"

Kairi shrugged, "I thought it would be but actually I think they're really cute."

"Not sure I'd use the word 'cute.'"

"Well, I've never seen Riku smile like that or Sora act like that before. They seem to really like each other."

"Can't they 'like each other' somewhere else?"

Kairi shook her head amused but Sora and Riku had broken apart anyway deciding that they did need to eat at some point and lunch period was only so long.

"You're not going to be weird about it are you?" Kairi asked her blonde friend.

Even though they were at the same table as the topic of their conversation, the couple seemed too absorbed in each other to even notice anyone else was around.

Tidus shrugged, "Nah, you're right. They do look happy."

"So…I'm on the market."

Tidus blanched, "Dude! Kairi! No offense but…no way I can think of you that way!"

Kairi laughed and swatted at him, "That's not what I meant! I just mean…like, spread the word, ya'know?"

"You really want random guys hitting on you?"

"Actually yeah."

Tidus looked at her as if he had underestimated her.

She scrunched her nose, "I mean…No one's ever hit on me before. I think it would kind of…exciting."

"You've never been hit on?"

"Well…no, Riku and Sora always scared any other guys off."

Tidus laughed, "Well I'm sure now you'll be approached nonstop by interested males. Make sure you remember us when you need help beating them off with a stick."

"Or a sword." Sora added suddenly at Kairi's side.

Kairi jumped into the air, "Sora!"

Sora grinned like there was nothing he would like more in world to defend his Kairi from lecherous boys, "I mean it, if anyone hurts or just annoys you, I will bury them."

"Sora…" Kairi groaned.

"Me too." Riku piped up from behind Sora. Kairi shook her head at her boys. It was funny but it seemed like the three of them could be easy friends again since Sora and Riku had hooked up. It was just another reason for Kairi to be happy with the situation.

* * *

Kairi thought it was cute how Sora and Riku were walking hand-in-hand but she still had to admit it was weird. She had never considered her boys would fall for each other this way. It was cute and it seemed right but it was still _weird_.

'_I've kissed both of those boys…_' She acknowledged idly. She wondered what it would be like to kiss someone who was actually interested in kissing her. Kissing Sora was like kissing a brother and Riku had always been chaste and distant. Kairi watched in amusement as the boys traded kisses while walking stumblingly somewhat as they did so. Riku had avoided kissing her as much as possible when they were dating but now with Sora it was like their lips were magnetically attracted. They couldn't get enough of each other.

She had only kissed Sora once. When she was fourteen or thirteen, she couldn't remember exactly. Sora used to hang out with her to talk about personal stuff. Riku had never been the type of friend who you shared weird uncomfortable conversation topics with. Kairi was. So Sora used to come over to her house and they would sit in her room and have girl talks. They would cuddle too but it was always platonic.

Neither could tell you what led up to it but once, Sora gave Kairi a determined kiss on the lips. He pulled away instantly sure he had done something he shouldn't have. Kairi knew then that they weren't attracted to each other like everyone else thought. It was a bit of a relief because she loved their platonic friendship. They both silently agreed to forget the kiss had ever happened and carry on as friends.

They were nearing Kairi's house so they stopped to give her a hug and say their goodbyes.

Once Kairi had gone inside and the two boys had continued on their way, Sora wondered if they would be spending some time together that afternoon. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with Riku but he didn't want to scare his friend off by being too intense.

They paused outside of Sora's place both unsure of what to do.

"Not yet." Sora decided, "Let me take you out tomorrow?" Tomorrow was Tuesday. He changed his mind, "Wednesday would be better." Wednesday they got out of school early, it would give Sora more time with Riku.

"Okay." Riku leaned in a gave Sora a kiss. Sora was loving how casually Riku could kiss him now. His whole body thrummed with excitement at the very idea of Riku initiating a kiss with him.

Despite how difficult it was to wrap his head around Riku's sudden interest in him, Sora was loving every minute of it.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **The date 3 (After that Kairi's plot begins)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes: **So, I was posting every weekend but my schedule is little messed up now so I'll just be posting randomly :P

**Pairings**: Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas, Kairi/?

**Warnings**: Sexual themes, Male/Male relationships, language

* * *

Ch. 10 Wednesday

* * *

It didn't take long for people to catch up on the news of Kairi not only being single but being for the first time ever unclaimed by Riku or Sora. Kairi was sent various notes during her classes and was on the receiving end of a few winks. The attention made her twitter nervously but it also was kind of exciting.

* * *

Sora spent Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday in a state of mild panic. Things were nice with Riku the way the were now. He felt like if they went on a date then they'd have to define things and if they defined things then everything would suddenly become awkward. He regretted asking Riku out. He wanted things to remain the way they were just a little longer. He loved their current state of casually sharing kissing and holding hands.

He knew it was inevitable though. Their friends were already starting to ask questions about the nature of their relationship. Sora could tell it made Riku nervous and he couldn't blame him. Just a few days ago, Riku thought he was straight. His world was changing pretty rapidly.

Sora was staring to feel like this date was doomed to fail. He didn't know what to do. He had finally gotten Riku. He wasn't willing to lose him so soon by scaring him off with relationship business.

He groaned and plopped down on his bed with his hands over his face. Where was he even supposed to take Riku? What were they supposed to do?

How would he avoid awkward silences? What if something went wrong?

Sora took a deep breath. He was better than this. He was always good at keeping conversation going and he had always gotten along well with Riku.

He was just a little nervous.

Sora got up from his bed and clambered downstairs to find his mom.

"Oh, good timing sweetie. Dinner's almost ready." Sora's mom, Norah, was setting the table, "I was about to call you down."

Sora nodded and sat down while his mother finished setting everything out, "…Mom?"

Being privy to her son's moods, Norah could sense that he wanted to speak. She sat down across from him and gave him her full attention, "Yes dear?"

"I…" He found it difficult to voice what he wanted to tell her without sounding lame.

She watched him patiently.

"I've kind of started seeing someone."

Norah's eyes widened slightly and a smile graced her lips. That explained Sora's recent behavior. It hadn't passed his mom's notice that he had been spending a lot of time daydreaming, humming, and mumbling to himself. Not that this took a special mother-skill to notice. He wasn't exactly subtle. The other day he had nearly left for school without his shoes and just that morning he had tripped down the stairs. She knew his absentmindedness meant something big was happening in his life but she trusted her son to come to her when he was ready to talk about it.

"That's great sweetie. Anyone I know?"

"Yes, actually." This was the hard part. Sora blushed, "Riku."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened more and her hand flew to her mouth, "Wow. When….?"

"Ah," Sora smiled, "We haven't gone on a date yet. It just recently happened. I haven't been sneaking behind your back with him or anything."

Norah smiled, "Of course not dear."

Sora laughed, "Well, I'm taking him out tomorrow. Just thought you'd like to know."

"That's great sweetie. It really is."

"You sure you're okay with it?"

"Of course! I just wasn't expecting… I mean Riku's been your friend for so long I didn't think you two would look at each other that way. But really, it's great. Who better to fall in love with than your best friend?" She smiled and started serving dinner, "Now, tell me about it."

Sora couldn't help the goofy smile he got every time he thought about Riku as he started telling his mom an abbreviated version of what had happened.

* * *

Sora hummed as he swung his hand entwined with Riku's between them.

Riku chuckled, "You seem like you're in a good mood."

They were walking hand-in-hand to town for their date.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Sora answered in a sing-song voice.

Riku shrugged having a harder time hiding his nervousness that the brunet was, "Sooooo…where are we going?" Riku had to admit it was weird being taken on a date instead of being the one taking his date out. It was generally the man's job to plan and pay for the date but in a relationship with two boys whose shoulders was that supposed to fall on? Sora had taken the initiative which was great but he was starting to feel like a girl. Then again, Kairi had been the one to ask him out as well. He had to smile at the thought.

"Din-ner." Sora teased.

Riku bumped their hands into Sora's side playfully, "Where?"

"Somewhere." Sora was downright giddy.

"Do you even know?"

"Of course I know! What kind of boyf-" He froze his eyes widening. His mind screaming: '_Damn! Backpedal! Backpedal! Damage control!' _He didn't know if Riku was ready to consider them in a relationship yet. He didn't want to scare him off.

Riku smiled significantly calmed to know he wasn't the only nervous one. He squeezed Sora's hand and attempted to break the tension by changing the subject, "Okay, I'll let you surprise me. So, I saw a trailer for a new Indiana Jones movie."

"I know!" Sora brightened instantly, "I'm so excited! That Squall Leonhart! Man!"

"Don't tell me. Another celebrity crush?"

Sora laughed and started to answer in the negative when Riku interrupted, "You know, I'm starting to get the feeling you have a leather fetish."

Sora blushed, "Uh…not really…I mean."

"Whips…" Riku muttered thoughtfully, "They both have whips."

"As weapons. Not for anything…_sexual_." Sora was bright red.

Riku laughed, "Suuuuure."

Sora was flustered but, to Riku's disappointment, he suddenly collected himself. He stopped walking and moved so he was standing in front of Riku.

"Close your eyes." He urged.

Riku obliged a little hesitantly.

"Okay." Sora said and Riku had to smile because he could hear the grin in his friend's voice. Suddenly Riku was being tugged along in complete darkness. He was tempted to open his eyes and peek but resisted when he heard Sora humming again. Instead he resigned himself to whatever fate the boy felt like dragging him into and contented himself with the warmth of Sora's hand in his leading him through the darkness and the sound of Sora's made-up tune assuring Riku of his presence.

Just like old times: Sora leading Riku on some secret surprise adventure. Riku felt warm at the memories. He hadn't realized how much he had missed his friend like this. No other friends, no homework, no gossip, just them on an adventure together.

"We're here!" Sora shouted ecstatically.

Riku opened his eyes which first fell on the brunet who was looking back at him, grin on his face, sparkle in his eyes, and hands outstretched for the dramatic reveal. Riku looked up and blinked in confusion.

What was Sora so excited about? What he missing something?

They were standing in front of Paradise Burger, their normal burger joint. Riku couldn't see anything different about it. What was he supposed to be excited about?

Riku slowly started panicking. He didn't want to disappoint Sora but he couldn't see why Sora had made such a big deal.

The brunet started laughing and Riku glanced back at him.

"What were you expecting Princess? A five-star restaurant?"

Riku quirked a smile. Ah, so Sora was just being cute. Riku shook his head and chuckled. He was suddenly overcome with an urge to hug Sora tight and never let go. He resisted for a second until he realized he was allowed to give into that urge. They were on a date after all. He squeezed Sora senseless while the brunet giggled until he couldn't breathe.

Honestly, he was glad Sora hadn't gone all out. It would be weird for them to sit together in a fancy place and do romantic things. It was better this way. This way it was like they were buddies just hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

* * *

Riku slid his arm around Sora's waist as they walked down the beach. It was funny how they had walked this beach a million times but suddenly it was different because they were on a 'date.' It was suddenly like the night was special and the beach was made just for them.

Thoughts of being intimate with his best friend still made Riku panic a little but when he was with Sora, everything was perfect.

How could he have never thought of this before? Why didn't he realize it sooner? Looking back, Riku realized he had always liked Sora as more than a friend. Ignorantly, he ascribed this to their close childhood friendship but the truth was they weren't inseparable because they grew up together, they were inseparable because they always wanted to be with each other.

It was crazy how naturally they fell into this whole relationship thing.

His arm seemed to fit perfect around the shorter boy. Their hips moved in rhythm to keep them from tripping over each other. Their shoes made a soft swish sound in the sand just barely audible over the whispering ocean.

"Hey Riku." Sora murmured breaking their comfortable silence.

"Hmm?"

Sora hair tickled Riku's cheek and he moved his head, "Are you….well, are we…like boyfriends?"

Riku couldn't help but laugh. He felt like Sora was the more experienced one in this relationship so every time Sora fumbled it made Riku feel a little more confident, "Yes Sora I think we are 'like boyfriends.'"

"Hey," Sora said quickly changing the subject before they could too awkward, "Let's go to the cave!"

Riku, a little stunned by the sudden change of topic, didn't have much to think as Sora pulled him away to their destination.

* * *

It was dark. This made sense as it was nearly sundown and they were in a cave but understanding it didn't make Riku like any better. He had never been a fan of the dark. It didn't help that Sora was rummaging around and Riku couldn't tell what he was doing. With the way the cave echoed he could barely tell where the other boy was in the cave. He knew he couldn't be far as the available space was significantly smaller than he remembered and there was no way for them to be more than arms reach away.

Something crackled then the area lit up.

Riku blinked trying to make out what he was looking at, "You have a lighter on you?" He asked in surprise. Sora didn't respond as he was busy lighting a collection of sticks he had gathered.

"Why would you have a lighter on you?" Riku wondered if the cave had been part of the plan all along instead of the spontaneous idea Sora played it off to be.

Sora looked up at Riku having successfully created a fire, "Because I'm a pyromaniac." He admitted flicking the lighter again with a psychotic grin.

Riku crossed his arms and looked at his friend refusing to believe that.

Sora giggled, "Just kidding. Something I picked up from a friend." He shrugged, "Comes in handy more often than you'd think."

Riku couldn't think of one situation a lighter would come in handy for Sora other than, apparently, lighting a fire in a cave on an impromptu visit at night. Riku narrowed his eyes wondering what kind of friends Sora was talking about and vaguely wondered how much of his life Sora had been keeping from him. Did he hang out with smokers now?

"Sora," Riku sighed, "I thought we were over you keeping secrets from me."

Sora blinked apparently not realizing he had done anything.

"Oh," He looked at the lighter, "It's Roxas's. He's gotten in the habit of flicking it repeatedly when he's annoyed. It was driving me crazy so I stole it. I didn't realize I still had it on me but I found it in my backpack a couple of days ago. No idea how it got there. I stuck in my vest so I would remember to take it home but I guess I forgot," He shrugged.

"So Roxas is a pyromaniac now?"

Sora chuckled, "I think it has something to do with his friend but…never mind that."

Riku looked like he was about to protest the change in subject when Sora kissed him and he decided he rather liked this new subject anyway.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Kairi's story begins and Sora and Riku run into some issues.


	11. Chapter 11

**Pairings: **Sora/Riku, Roxas/Axel, Kairi/?

**Warnings: **Male/Male relationships, sexual themes, language.

* * *

Ch. 11 Thursday

She wasn't sure if it was the news of Sora and Riku hooking up or if Tidus had done something but suddenly everywhere Kairi turned she was getting winks and friendly flirting.

She had expected one maybe two interested suitors. Instead she got more than she could count. What was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to know who was serious?

She had already accepted a few numbers and a couple of dates in the beginning but now it was getting hard to keep track. She couldn't even remember their names.

It didn't seem right.

This isn't what she wanted finding love to be like. She'd admit that she was a romantic and she wanted someone to sweep her off her feet and carry her away. She wanted a prince. Every time she had to turn someone down because she already had too much on her plate she wondered if she had let a potential Prince Charming go.

She was at the point where her days were packed and her memory was struggling to keep up with who to meet when and where. She started having to turn everyone down so she could focus on the ones she had already said yes too.

She had to admit she was spoiled. She had two boys fighting over her for as long as she could remember. She had two Prince Charmings always waiting in the wings.

But now her boys had found love in each other instead of her and she was on her own. She was happy for them and happy to have the opportunity to fall in love. However, when after lunch, she found herself cornered by a group of guys, she really hoped her two heroes would save her. She was surrounded by a group of three or so boys. The apparent leader of the group was speaking.

"Liking the attention aren't you?" Seifer chided. He was close. Way too close. She was backed against a corner where the lockers and wall met. "Not happy unless you have guys fighting over you?"

The figure next to Seifer agreed. That one was a girl, Kairi suddenly realized. Her name was Fuu.

The last of the group was Rai who wasn't insulting her as much as he was being a huge block of bulk threatening her with his mere presence. The bell rang and the halls cleared leaving no witnesses to come to her rescue.

"I have to get to class." Kairi tried attempting to scoot past the giant block of human meat. It was futile. They closed in on her creating a tighter circle so she had no hope of escaping.

"Come on, Kai," Seifer added, "You can't say no to me."

"Of course I can!" Kairi choked out, "I-"

But she didn't have to finish because suddenly someone was there protecting her. She immediately thought it was Sora until she got a closer look.

"Leave her alone guys."

Surprisingly enough, those words were all it took to get the trio to leave. They threw a few meaningless threats back but walked away. Kairi breathed a sigh of relief.

"T-thanks." She spoke to the back of the head of the boy who saved her.

He turned to face her for the first time, "Oh! It's you."

Kairi blinked she didn't recognize him. She knew a lot of the people at the school at least by face but he didn't look familiar.

"Hi?"

"Hayner." He introduced.

"Kairi."

"I know." Hayner replied with a smirk that clearly said 'duh!'

"Oh."

"Seifer's a jerk but you really should have expected being confronted like that after the stunt you pulled."

"What stunt?"

"Oh, come on. You were always the girl that no one could have because you were spoken for twice over by those two boys. Letting it be known that you're single and looking was a disaster waiting to happen."

"I didn't mean to…" Kairi blushed because she really hadn't expected such a result. She was starting to regret the whole thing.

Hayner shrugged, "Just watch yourself."

"Well, let Seifer and the others know that I'm off the table." She said clearly and definitely, "I've found someone." She wasn't lying. Someone approached her the other day who had stood out above the rest. A sweet charming man. Kairi had a good feeling about him.

"Whatever," Hayner shrugged. Kairi huffed at his attitude but rushed to class.

* * *

Sora's mom, Norah, crossed her arms at her son at the door.

"We're just going to do homework."

Norah looked unsure but Sora held his place and Riku peeked awkwardly out from behind Sora.

"I promise." Sora stated seriously holding his hands up.

"Keep your door open." Norah resigned.

Sora nodded and led Riku upstairs to his room. Norah had a hard time letting them be alone together especially in Sora's room. That was an unforeseen consequence of him dating Riku or at least of his mother knowing about it.

"I haven't told my parents yet." Riku admitted, "I didn't even really think about it. I mean I didn't even tell them about Kairi."

Sora realized he had a closer bond with his mom than a lot of other kids did with their parents so this news didn't surprise him much. He also realized that Riku's parents probably assumed he was straight. Sora had told his mom about his sexuality the second he got home from Twilight Town after his experience with Axel. She was nothing but accepting as always. She was understandably worried about his current relationship though. It's one thing to be aware that your son is gay, it's another to have him bring boys home to his bedroom.

"Then maybe we should go over to your house for once," Sora joked.

"I don't see why not, I guess."

"Oh come on, having them catch us kissing or something is the worst way for your parents to find out."

"Yeah," Riku's eyes got a faraway look that told Sora he was drifting into thought. Probably wondering how his parents would respond to this situation.

"Don't worry about it." Sora placed a soft kiss on Riku's lips, "Come help me with history."

"In the closet?" Riku asked watching his friend, '_boyfriend' _he reminded himself, shuffle around the clothes in the bottom of the closet to find his history text book, "Are you teasing me?"

Sora looked over to Riku questioningly then laughed, "Oh, Riku. Of course not! Although I do appreciate the irony."

"I don't think that's what irony means."

"Well, maybe you need to help me with English too then. Now come into the closet with me my homosexual friend." Sora urged.

Riku laughed it off but had to admit it was weird to think of himself as gay. Sora, having only been teasing about the closet, sat crisscross on the floor with his books and Riku joined him deciding he didn't need to think about all that yet.

* * *

Riku was reading his novel for English on Sora's bed and Sora was doodling over his math notes when the phone rang. Both of them ignored it figuring it was for Sora's mom anyway.

"Sora! It's Axel!" A voice drifted from downstairs. Riku tried to place the name as he watched Sora's eyes brighten.

"Thanks mom!" Sora, thankful for the distraction from his homework, picked up the landline in his room. He waited until his mom hung up to talk.

"Hey!"

Riku tried to focus on his book but was having a hard time concentrating. He felt like he shouldn't eavesdrop but Sora could have left the room if he didn't want Riku to hear. It's not like he could get much from half of the conversation anyway. Riku was desperately trying to convince himself that he had remembered incorrectly and Axel was not the name of they guy Sora hooked up with but an uncomfortable feeling was settling in his gut.

'_His mom seemed familiar with the name, does he just call here all the time? Since when does Sora keep in contact with him_?'

"Aw, thanks." Sora said glancing at Riku with a shy smile, "He's pretty great."

Riku's cheeks tinged slightly. Were they talking about him? '_Does Sora talk about me to his ex-fling_?'

Sora caught the face Riku was making inadvertently to his thoughts. He rolled his chair over and tapped Riku's leg with his foot. Riku looked up.

'You okay?' Sora mouthed while Axel rambled endlessly on the other side of the line. Riku nodded in an unconvincing manner. Sora tilted his head forgetting the other person on the line in favor of his clearly upset boyfriend. "What's wrong?"

"Is he there?" Axel asked while Riku mumbled about nothing being wrong.

"Yeah," Sora said his attention back on the phone.

"Can I talk to him?"

Riku was close enough to be able to hear Axel vaguely over the line. Sora silently asked Riku for an answer with gestures.

"Sure." Sora said when Riku failed to answer. He handed the phone over to his boyfriend.

"H-Hello." Riku started not sure what to expect. He had visions of a tall redhead threatening his life if he messed with Sora. Riku shuddered.

"Hey bud." Axel said casually as if they've known each other for years, "I hear your making Sora happy." Riku glanced over at Sora who had moved back to his desk and was watching him curiously unable to hear more than Riku's side of the conversation.

"I sure hope so." He said without thinking about it.

"Sora's pretty good at taking care of himself so I'm not too worried about it and I'm not going to give you some speech about not hurting him. I'm sure you don't plan on hurting him anyway. I should warn you though…Roxas is super-protective and will probably seek revenge if anything were to happen."

Riku felt like Axel was talking nonsense. He wanted to ask him about the nature of Sora's encounter with him but couldn't think of how to word it without sounding weird especially to Sora who was watching Riku with amused curiosity.

"Um…so, you're like Sora's….friend?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"Ah, no he did. I just didn't realize you two like…talked and stuff still." He could feel Sora's eyes on him but he refused to look.

Axel chuckled, "No worries there bud. He's a little too tame for me. We're just friends."

"Okay…"

"Hey, trust Sora. He's a good kid."

Riku felt a little pang of annoyance at that. '_How dare Axel act like he knows Sora better than me! Of course I trust him!'_

He passed the phone back to Sora having had enough and feeling no better than before.

'_Some kid Sora knew for a week acting like he's privy to special information about my best friend.' _Riku growled to himself annoyed. Of course he trusted Sora. He just didn't like this Axel guy.

"I'm going home." Riku announced standing up.

"Wait, what?" Sora mumbled something hurriedly into the phone and set it aside, "Did I do something wrong?"

Sora looked sincerely worried so Riku made himself smile as convincingly as possibly, "No, Sora, my parents are expecting me back for dinner though."

"Oh, yeah, okay." He stood up and took Riku's hand to walk him downstairs. Riku found that all his anger melted away when he was with the other boy like this. He was starting to regret how he had been acting.

"See ya tomorrow." Sora said when they reached the door. Riku leaned down to kiss the shorter boy. Their lips brushed lightly then locked around each other. It reminded both boys of the first time they kissed. They broke apart and smiled at each other.

"Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Kairi's mystery man is revealed


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12 Friday

* * *

Sora woke overly warm and feeling a little suffocated. He groaned. He moved to roll over only to discover he was trapped. His brain jolted awake once he realized there were two arms around him holding him in place.

He rewound his memories of last night but couldn't think of any reason some one else would be in his bed. He craned his neck to get a better look and caught at glimpse of silver.

"Riku!" He hissed at a total loss for why his boyfriend was in bed cuddling him without his consent or knowledge. Although he had to admit it was nice. He almost laid back down into the embrace and fell back asleep when he heard a voice call from downstairs.

"Sora! Are you awake yet?"

Sora felt like it would hurt his mom's trust if she found them in bed together when Riku wasn't even supposed to be there. "I'm up!" He yelled, "Going to take a shower, be down in a bit!"

"Okay, I'm making breakfast."

He heard her footsteps retreat downstairs. Good, that would buy him some time. Now to handle the boy in his bed.

"Riku," He hissed.

The boy in question grumbled vaguely and released his grip enough for Sora to move. The brunet wiggled into a sitting position where he could see the other occupant of his bed better. Riku was peacefully asleep his silky hair cascading over his face. Sora suddenly felt like he could get used to waking up this way.

He poked Riku's cheek, "Riku!"

Riku sat up suddenly as he processed the voice, "Sora? What are you doing here?"

Sora crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "This is my room."

Riku blinked and took in his surroundings. Sora watched him amused that he could practically read his friend's thoughts.

Riku's memory caught up with him and he let his breath out, "Oh."

"Do you mind sharing?"

"I um…couldn't sleep."

"So you snuck into my window in the middle of the night?"

"Basically yeah."

"That's cuddle-rape Riku. You cuddle-raped me."

"Sorry. I was just going to see if you were up. I didn't mean to sleep here." Riku smiled sheepishly at Sora trying to figure out if the other boy was mad or not.

Sora quirked a smile back, "Whatever. Glad I could cure your insomnia."

It had been years since he'd slept in the same bed as Riku. When they were younger they used to have sleepovers. Some with parental consent others in which Riku would sneak into his room at night and disappear in the morning. Sora was perfectly content to have the other boy in his bed so he didn't complain.

"You should go now."

Riku nodded and made his way to the window. "See ya in an hour."

* * *

Riku was just coming past Sora's house when the door opened and the brunet shuffled out. He grabbed Riku's hand and started walking in step with him.

"Long time no see."

Sora grinned swinging their hands between them. Riku was immensely relieved the brunet didn't want to talk about him sneaking into the others bed last night. The truth was, he wasn't able to sleep because he couldn't stop thinking about Axel and Sora.

He trusted Sora.

When they were together like this he felt like nothing could go wrong in the world. But Riku couldn't help and think about the things Sora had failed to tell him. He wondered if there were more secrets Sora was hiding.

He pushed his thoughts aside when they saw Kairi waving them over in front of her house.

"Hey guys! Guess what?" She was clearly very excited.

"What's up Kairi?" Sora asked.

"I was up all night talking on the phone."

"With a booooooy?" Riku asking as if he was a ten-year old girl teasing his friend for liking boys.

Kairi giggled at her friend's antics, "Yes. I kinda have a date tomorrow night."

Both boys narrowed their eyes.

"What's his name?"

"Where can I find him?"

"What are his intentions?"

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"You better be planning on letting us meet him first."

"Boys, boys," She held her hands up to stop the flow of questions, "It's okay. I can take care of myself. Actually," She added kicking a pebble as she walked, "this is our second date."

"Kairi!"

"How could you not tell us?!"

"I need to meet him! Now!"

"No." Kairi stated firmly, "I don't want you scaring him off. He's a perfectly nice guy."

Sora and Riku protested, "We won't scare him off!"

"We have to meet him eventually!"

"Sure, eventually. Just," Kairi sighed, "Let me figure out if I like him first okay?"

"Okay." Riku reluctantly agreed. Sora crossed his arms but mumbled something similar.

Friday evening Sora and Riku found themselves wandering around the park. Well, they had been wandering at first…

If anyone else was in the area they would most likely hear the muffled whimpers behind the storage building in the middle of the park where the couple had retired for some alone time.

Sora's lips trailed over Riku's neck nibbling when he found the right spot. Riku moaned and threw his head back which was a terrible mistake- "OW!" -as he was up against a concrete wall.

He doubled over clinging to the back of his head and hissing profanity. When the ringing in his ears subsided he noticed the muffled sound Sora was making.

"Are you laughing at me?!" Riku asked straightening himself out and trying to hide his injured pride.

"S-sorry," He was definitely laughing.

"I could have a concussion!"

"Do you?"

"Probably not. How would I know?!"

Sora snickered.

"You're an ass."

"Sorry," Sora said calming down, "I'll make it up to you." He added as a flirtatious whisper over his boyfriend's lips. Riku, bruised ego unable to let go, placed a palm against Sora's chest stopped the shorter boy from moving closer.

"Riku?" Sora asked obligingly stepping back and a little hurt.

"It wasn't funny."

"I'm sorry. You're right I shouldn't have laughed."

Riku crossed his arms clearly not satisfied. Unhappy with the turn of events and Riku's sudden attitude, Sora crossed his arms as well.

"What? I said I'm sorry!"

Riku looked for a moment like he was going to yell but he stopped himself and snarled, "Whatever." He pushed himself away from the wall and walked away not even looking back at a very confused Sora.

* * *

Kairi had discovered that her date had quite the fan following. He turned heads wherever he went. She wasn't ready to go public that they were dating if for no other reason than keeping Riku and Sora off their backs. So they picked a pretty isolated place for their date.

If this date went well though….

The first one had been so nice. Kairi hoped that wasn't a fluke. She was really starting to like the boy.

There was something elegant about Setzer. She was surprised she had never noticed him before. Then again she had forced herself not to noticed anyone but her boys. It would have been bad if she had fallen for someone else while they were fighting for her attention.

He was…gorgeous.

He was a gentleman too. He was like a prince.

He was almost too good to be true.

* * *

The was a light almost tentative knock on Riku's bedroom door. Riku opened it already knowing who it was. He had been sitting here for the past two hours feeling like a complete idiot and wondering if he should go see Sora. He knew Sora would come to him eventually.

"You want to talk about it or just pretend it never happened?" Sora asked leaning against the doorframe waiting for Riku's answer before he entered the room.

Riku breathed a sigh of relief glad Sora was being easy about this, "Forget it."

"Done." Sora said shrugging lightly as he stepped into the room. Sora and Kairi didn't often spend time in Riku's room. Sora had been there before but not often.

It was oddly impersonal there. Riku spent so much time elsewhere he never really managed to personalize his space. It was funny when Sora thought about it.

Both his and Kairi's room showed his influence. Sora had a change or two of Riku's clothes at his place as well as some movies and even a poster Riku had claimed didn't look as good in his room. Kairi's room had some of Riku's supplies. Textbooks, highlighters, and some CDs of Riku's were mixed in randomly with Kairi's things.

Riku was the type of person who never considered his house to be his _home_. Instead, his home was wherever his friend's were.

Sora threw himself into a black beanbag resting on the gray carpet, "Let's watch a movie."

Riku gladly accepted the forgiveness and the distraction.

Unfortunately, as they would both come to realize soon, it wasn't nearly the end of this conflict.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Relationship troubles


	13. Chapter 13

Ch. 13

* * *

Sora didn't know what to expect from Riku anymore. Ever since the fight at the park on Friday they hadn't been quite the same. They agreed to forget it ever happened but Sora could see every time Riku looked like he was about to snap again. They would be talking or kissing or just enjoying each other's company when suddenly Riku's demeanor would change and he'd look like he was about to say something and stop himself.

It happened more often than Sora would like to admit and he didn't know how much longer Riku would be willing to stop himself. He wished he knew what was wrong.

If he had to admit it: he was terrified.

Sora brain kept whispering evil traitorous things to him: _'Riku's changed his mind. He's realized he made a mistake but doesn't want to hurt my feelings by breaking it off so he's just playing along….' _

Sora wouldn't admit it was bothering him so much but he spent all last night crying. Riku came over in the morning all rainbows and sunshine though and Sora was more than willing to forgive and forget.

Sora threw together a couple of sandwiches. One with lots of mustard for him and one on rye for Riku. He returned to the living room where his boyfriend was studying the cards in his hands. Sora set the sandwiches down, placed a kiss on Riku's cheek (because he would take any opportunity to) and returned to the kitchen for drinks.

It was nice being like this with Riku. They were comfortable just like they were as friends. Well, friends who would occasionally sneak kisses from each other.

"Do you have a five?" Riku asked as Sora returned and sat down across from him. Sora picked up his hand to glance at the cards and handed Riku a five wondering if the boy had cheated while he was away.

"Do you have a king?" Riku took his second turn.

Sora narrowed his eyes and handed over his king. Yeah, he definitely cheated.

Riku grinned knowing his boyfriend was catching on to him, "Do you have an eight?"

"You know I do cheater." Sora said passing it over.

Riku laughed and abandoned the game, "This game is so lame."

"Roxas taught me a game he calls Egyptian Wrap Slap. Wanna play?"

Riku shrugged, "Sure. Teach me."

Sora gathered the cards up from the floor and began to shuffle.

"I was talking to Roxas yesterday." Sora said remembering the conversation after he had brought up his brother's name. "He said Axel's applying to Destiny University."

Riku bit down hard into his sandwich.

"I wonder if Roxas will apply too when he's getting ready to graduate next year. It would be cool to go to school with him."

"Is that where you're going?" Riku asked already knowing the answer.

"That's the plan. Aren't you?"

"I was thinking of going to Midgar actually." Riku replied somewhat bitterly.

Sora heart sunk, "That's where Kairi wants to go."

"Yeah."

Time passed in silence while Sora dealt out the cards.

Sora sighed, "Well…it would be nice to go to school with Roxas at least."

"And Axel." Riku added trying, and failing, to keep the snarl out of his voice. Sora tensed up. He found that being with Riku was suddenly like walking on eggshells. He'd snap at the smallest things. Clearly something was bothering him but Sora had no idea what it could be.

"Yes Axel." He said slowly and carefully, "He's a good friend."

Riku scoffed and Sora could hear his voice after the first time he told the story about Axel.

"_That doesn't just mean you're gay Sora. It means you're a slut!_"

Sora stood up suddenly feeling fragile, "I should go home." He spat out nervously.

"You are home." Riku replied icily.

"Oh…I-"

"Don't worry." Riku said more anger than he intended slipping into his voice, "I can take a hint."

"I didn't-" But Riku had already slammed the door on his way out.

Sora wanted desperately to call Kairi and either let her distract him or cry to her until she could explain Riku and the mystery he had suddenly become but she was on a date. So instead, he arranged the cards into a game of solitaire and tried not to cry.

Sora's fingers trembled as he placed the Ace of Hearts into it's spot and tried to figure out what to do.

* * *

"_Of course Bunny." _

That was what Setzer had said last night after their date when she told him that Sora and Riku were expecting to meet him if he planned on continuing his relationship with her. He said it in that sweet silky voice of his that made Kairi melt a little.

She waited patiently (and a little anxiously) for Sora to return her call. When the phone finally rang at noon, Kairi picked it up in a hurry.

"Hey, Kai. Sorry, I was shopping with mom. You said you wanted to talk? What's up?"

"I want to arrange a double date so you could meet my…" She paused not sure if she was ready to call this Setzer thing official, "boyfriend."

"Oh! Great! Where? When?"

"Café Paopu. Late lunch? Around 2ish?"

"Sounds great."

"Okay. You'll invite Riku for me?"

"Oh," For some reason Sora hesitated, "Of course."

"Is everything okay?" Kairi asked immediately worried by the tone of Sora's voice.

"Um, yeah…." He paused, "Yeah." He added again in a way that completely failed to assure Kairi.

* * *

Kairi and Setzer arrived first. Kairi was visibly nervous but Setzer was calm and collected as could be.

Clearly he had no idea what was in store. Kairi was sure Sora and Riku were going to interrogate him. Possibly with threat of torture. '_They've probably already decided who's going to be bad cop and who's good cop.'_ Kairi groaned.

Setzer placed a reassuring hand on her back and smiled down at her. Setzer was untouchable. He truly believed this.

The bell to the front door jingled as Sora and Riku stepped in hand-in-hand. Setzer stood as they approached the table prepared for a full introduction.

Sora reached out to shake his hand but Riku just slouched into his chair across from Kairi. Kairi almost giggled at the apparent reality of the good cop/bad cop thought she had earlier.

"Hey there. I'm Sora. This is Riku."

"Setzer."

Sora nodded and they both sat down. Immediately Sora started questioning, "So, you look older. What grade are you in?"

"Senior."

Sora hummed. All three members of the trio were juniors.

"Were you held back?" Riku asked.

"Riku! That's rude!" Kairi protested but Setzer answered anyway.

"No. I'm eighteen. I'm just tall I guess."

"Mature." Kairi added.

"What are you plans after graduation?" Sora asked getting the conversation back on topic.

"College."

"I meant with Kairi."

"That's for her to decide as well as myself."

Kairi blushed impressed with his answer. Sora seemed impressed as well as he failed to form a follow-up question. Riku wasn't so easily charmed but he did little more than glare.

"So, I hear you two are a couple." Setzer stated as their food arrived.

"Yeah." Sora bristled a little at having the questioning turned on him. Somehow Setzer had gained the upper-hand and Sora wasn't sure he liked it.

"It's just…you're not acting very coupley."

Kairi had noticed this as well. Something was definitely wrong, they had walked in holding hands but it almost seemed like an act they were putting on for her and now they were sitting apart and intentionally not making eye contact with each other. Both boys went on the defensive at the comment.

"Not really your business. We're here to talk about Kairi not us."

"That's sweet that you care for Kairi so much but I would never do anything to hurt her. You don't have to protect her from me."

Now it was Riku's turn to bristle. He wasn't sure what it was about the way Setzer said it but it almost sounded like…a threat. Riku glanced at Sora to see the other boy had read it the same way too. They were both on alert.

Something about Setzer felt…dangerous.

"I will always protect Kairi." Sora answered seriously, "Always."

Riku sat straight and supportive at Sora's side. Kairi noticed the sudden electricity in the air.

'_Why are they acting so weird? He didn't say anything wrong…'_

The rest of the meal was tense and uncomfortable. Silence was interspersed with glares.

Kairi became annoyed at her boys for causing so much trouble but Setzer kept a comforting hand on hers the whole time which made her feel better.

* * *

After Setzer drove off, the trio went for a walk to talk.

"So…what did you think?" Kairi asked.

"He's a smooth talker." Sora said and Riku agreed.

Kairi shrugged, "Isn't he kind of….dreamy?"

Sora smirked, "Yeah actually. He's a looker."

Riku's grip on Sora tightened and he stopped walking.

"Riku…what?" Sora asked looking back at his boyfriend who had pulled him to a stop as well. Sora tried to shake his hand free from the bone-crushing grip but failed, "Riku, that hurts."

Riku glanced at their hands and immediately let go apologetically.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked inching closer.

Riku shook his head.

"Talk to me _please_." Sora urged. Kairi hovered in the background not sure what to do.

"I-" Riku started but realized he couldn't, "I want to talk to Kairi."

Sora, a little surprised and a lot upset, reluctantly agreed. He reached up and placed a tentative chaste kiss on Riku's lips before walking away.

'_He's still in love with her_.' his traitors brain whispered and the tears threatened to return.


End file.
